Three Sides of the Moon Part three: Hope
by DTitania
Summary: FFIV As Cecil and friends underestimate the power of a new foe, all hope seems lost. Can each of them bear the high price which victory and the truth demand?
1. Prologue: Lovers

_Author's notes: This is (finally) the third and last part of "Three Sides of the Moon" and as such the sequel to "Trust" and "Betrayal" (both uploaded on FF.net, as well). Nevertheless, it is not necessary to have read these two parts in order to understand "Hope". New chapters of Hope will get uploaded on a regular basis (It's a promise! ;)Reviews are as always very welcome and please feel free to email further comments or questions to DTitania@aol.com._

_Final Fantasy 2/IV and all FFIV characters are the property of Square. Characters such as Dawn, Jonas and Mallack are my own creations, so please do not use them without asking me first. I hope that you will have as much fun reading the story as I had writing it:_

**Three sides of the moon**

**Part 3: Hope**

**Prologue**

_Lovers_

It was cold and the darkness of the night seemed even darker than usual. The silver haired woman who ran through the woods was shivering, though the fire of determination was keeping her warm from inside: "I must see... him..." 

Although her legs seemed to give way under her every momentfrom exhaustion, she still used all her strength to run past the barren trees with their skeletal twigs in order to reach the space behind them. Finally she reached a clearing, her senses nearly failing due to the joy she felt as she spotted a familiar figure across the field... In the glittering moonlight a tall man was standing, strands of black hair falling before his high forehead, eyes so sparkling that they shone brighter than the stars. The woman stood still, suddenly looking at the man with big, curious, sea blue eyes as if savouring every moment of this night - though there was also a fearful expression in her look as if she wondered, if all this was just a dream. As the dark haired man smiled at her and opened his arms, she started to run, throwing herself into her lover's embrace. 

"Finally I have found you, my love..." the man said soothingly, stroking the silky fair strands of her hair carefully. 

"No... I have found you..." the woman replied, closing her eyes to savour the joy of this moment. "I've missed you so much..."

The man was still stroking her hair, curling a lock around his finger as he asked calmly: "Have you really? What could you see in me that would make you miss me?" His question sounded not accusingly, but rather sad.

The woman looked at him, surprised. Then, her cheeks blushing slightly, she embraced him even more firmly: "Because you are everything for me..."

The man smiled, his elegant features shining in the twilight and he reached out to stroke slowly the satin cheek of the woman. "I want to be more than that for you... Let my love be the beginning..." he stroked his thumb softly across her chin.

"Yes... the beginning..." the woman whispered, lost in his gaze.

The man carefully traced with his finger her jawbone, then traced it down her slender neck, stopping just at her larynx. "Let my love be the end," he whispered.

"The end..." the woman repeated, every touch of the man making her spine shiver. 

"You are the beginning and the end... You are everything..." 

The man smiled even more and he touched her cheek once again, feeling her exquisite skin, every feature of her face. The woman closed her eyes, her body giving in completely to the sensation of his touch. 

"I love you..." she whispered, feeling as if this moment was the most precious in all her life.

"I love you, too..." the man answered - suddenly his hands were around her neck, pressing violently.

The woman's eyes snapped open. "What...? No...don't..." Her words were stifled as the man started to tighten his grip, still smiling at her in the sweetest of all ways possible.

"We were meant for each other, my precious diamond..." he continued, as if he was not aware of what he was doing, his grip getting stronger and stronger every minute.

Tears filled the eyes of the woman, even more so as the appearance of her lover started to change, his hair changing from black to white. Then her vision started to blur from the suffocation. She tried one last time to struggle against the strong man's grip, but it was no use.

"Let me go..." she wanted to say, but it only came out as an inaudiblewhisper.

The man showed no reaction, not looseninghis merciless grip for just a minute. The woman's eyes were still filled with tears as everything went black -- her last sight being a white-haired man, features strangely distorted, a tender smile on his lips....


	2. Chapter 1: The meaning of being human

**1.**

_The meaning of being human_

"Will she be alright? She seems to be in pain…" Cecil asked, worry in his eyes as he watched the fair-haired woman who was lying on the bed and stirred slightly in her sleep.

"Don't worry. It's nothing dangerous… She just has some bruises and a slight fever -- she probably fainted because of exhaustion," Rosa consoled him, while putting a piece of wet cloth on the pale forehead of the woman. Only some hours ago, a pretty agitated Cecil had called on the young Queen, an unconscious person in his arms. Rosa had ordered at once for the young woman to be taken into the sick quarters. 

"So, is this the Dawn you spoke of?" Rosa asked casually. Cecil nodded - in time he had told his wife much of what had happened on Mt. Ordeals only some weeks ago, although he had omitted some of his own feelings, being too ashamed to tell them.

Only Kain knew the full story – it was a thing both men had exchanged after their reunion, a sign of trust and friendship once more. Though sometimes Cecil wondered, if Rosa really was completely unaware of the stormy sea of various emotions Dawn had plunged the Paladin into back then. 

The door was suddenly pushed open and Kain entered. "Dawn?" He hurried towards the bed and looked at the unconscious lying figure - though her hair was plastered to her forehead, she still looked stunningly beautiful with her long eyelashes and perfect soft lips, her pale skin slightly reddened due to the fever.

"Is it something serious?" the Dragoon asked, a hint of fear in his eyes. 

Cecil shook his head, though his expression was one of sorrow. "Rosa examined her and thinks that she will be better soon... Dawn's just totally exhausted..." he consoled his friend. Both men shared a look of relief which made Cecil smile inwardly:** He knew very well that Kain was indebted to Dawn for many things, as well as he himself. If she had not been on Mt. Ordeals some weeks ago, Kain might have lost the fight against his darker side and he might have lost not only the trust in himself, but also in his own wife, Rosa.. **

Concentrating his thoughts back on the situation at hand, the Paladin had to frown. "It seems that Dawn was escaping from someone or something. She came running out of the woods and --"

Suddenly the door was pushed open again, not very gently, and Edge stormed in, Rydia and Yang following behind. As always, it seemed that news spread through the castle faster than one could expect. 

"So - that's the famous "Dawn" Cecil and Kain were speaking of, eh?" Edge grinned, obviously completely unaware of the sorrowful faces of his friends around him. "What a babe! What was this story with her on Mt. Ordeals again?" Rydia winced next to him. 

Cecil sighed. "Kain and I met Dawn on the mountain," she told me that something evil was about to emerge. She has the rare ability to see into the souls of people, being a female paladin."

"A female paladin?" Edge smirked: "I bet you two made a nice couple there!" He slapped his friend on the shoulder. 

"Edge stop your jesting - besides I would be _very_ grateful if you could bring your voice down - there's a sick person lying here." Cecil exclaimed angrily, though blushed slightly upon remembering how much Dawn had confused his feelings back then. He gave a quick glance to Rosa, who was still occupied with cooling Dawn's forehead and did not seem to mind Edge's remark much. Cecil was glad that she did not care - it was even more a sign of trust towards him.

"These are strange times..." Yang said, "First your brother appears again and then this young woman comes to Baron.. Did she say anything before she passed out?"

"She murmured something about Tororia." Cecil bit his lip upon reflecting. "It seems to be her hometown..."

"Maybe monsters are attacking it as well - like what happened in Baron?" Rydia wondered, her green eyes wide with excitement. 

Yang shook his head. "That's most unlikely in my opinion. The clerics of Tororia castle may like to stay for themselves, but they would be sure to report such things and there have been no reports…"

"If they _could_ report..." Kain remarked.

Dawn suddenly stirred in her sleep once more, uttering a quiet moan.

"I hate to interrupt you, but maybe we could discuss these things outside? I don't think that Dawn will wake up before tomorrow - she's too weak for that..." Rosa interrupted the friends firmly, though she still kept a friendly air. 

"You are right... We didn't behave very considerate," Cecil admitted, giving Rosa a quick kiss on the cheek as they left the room. He smiled at her, nearly sheepishly. "Thanks for helping me with…" 

Rosa grinned. She knew what Cecil was referring to and returned the kiss. "It was my pleasure, darling. Your friends are mine, as well."

For a moment Cecil saw that Kain was looking wistfully into their direction, which caused the Paladin to smile. Only some weeks ago, he would have interpreted Kain's look as sign of jealousy, but now he knew that Kain was only longing for his love, Diane. The ex-Dragoon was thinking of the girl every minute she was not next to him, which happened to be more often right now, as Diane had a sprained ankle and was watched closely by her father, Cid, until she was better.

The group entered a little parlour in Baron castle and sat down on some chairs near the fireplace.

"It would be futile to go to Tororia without knowing if something is the matter there..." Yang continued the conversation they had started.

"But why would she talk about Tororia if something wasn't wrong there?" Cecil murmured. "I wish she were awake..."

"I do not want to interrupt you, Cecil, but wouldn't it be better to concentrate on Mysidia, first? You do not know if the woman spoke the truth, but you have much reason to believe that Mysidia might have had trouble with monsters, too," a dark voice said. A man with long black hair and elegant, though haughty features had just entered the room -- it was Golbez, Cecil's brother.

Once again, Golbez remarks, which always seemed to be bitter and ironical, angered Cecil - this time even more as he knew that his brother was right 

"_I should have thought of that, too.. It seems my mind is occupied too much with Dawn." He tried to stay friendly. _

"You did not interrupt us, Golbez, and I have to admit that you're right. Mysidia should be our first aim -- at least until Dawn wakes up and can tell us more. I will send a message to Tororia, however..." The others nodded in apprehension.

"So – does anyone want to accompany me to Mysidia?" Cecil looked around the room. 

"Do you really think that it is a good idea for you to go to Mysidia, Cecil?" Golbez asked, his voice rather sharp. "If I understand correctly, it was you who--"

"Golbez! You can be assured that the Elder trusts me..." Cecil cut him short, his voice bearing more anger than he wanted to show**. Golbez just smiled due to this comment, which set Cecil's blood boiling altogether - since his brother had arrived in Baron, he could not stop contradicting everything Cecil said.**

"We let you into our midst, too - no matter what you have done..." The talking in the group stopped abruptly and everyone was looking at the two brothers. Cecil was at once sorry for the harsh words he had spoken before. _"I'm making everything worse..." However, to his surprise Golbez was still smiling and even nodded towards him. In fact, it seemed nearly apprehensive. _

Cecil frowned. _"Does it make him happy if I talk to him that way?"_

Rosa cleared her throat and tried to resolve the situation: "I'm sure that Golbez was only worried about you, Cecil... There's no need for this, though - the Elder is indeed a friend of Cecil and most Mysidians surely hold no more grudge against Baron's past deeds... It will even help to strengthen the diplomatic ties between Mysidia and Baron, if the King of Baron himself makes his appearance and is worried about Mysidia's safety..."

"Well spoken, Rosa. You're truly worthy of the title 'Queen'..:" Yang smiled, while Cecil stared speechless at his wife, although he could also not hide his pride in spite of her wise words. She caught his glance and, not able to suppress a giggle, winked. Just then Cecil remarked that he had forgotten completely about his former anger and embarrassment concerning Golbez's words. 

"So - it is settled then. I would ask you, Yang to come with me, too. Even if there is no emergency in Mysidia, it would be good to have as many leaders next to my side in order to plan further steps," Cecil said.

Yang nodded. "It will be my pleasure to accompany you, as always."

"Well - then let's go!" Edge exclaimed and jumped from his seat. 

"Edge?" Cecil looked puzzled. 

The blue-haired ninja looked at him, hurt. "But Cecil, you said _all leaders! So the greatest king of all - that's me!" Yang and Cecil exchanged glances, though both knew that they had no chance in stopping Edge from his plans, and so the Paladin nodded. "All right. I guess Palom and Porom will want to come with us, too -- it was hard enough to explain to them why they had to stay home last time. Kain, Rydia - I'd like to ask you to stay here for I fear that the monster attack was not the last one and I don't want to leave Baron defenceless."_

Rydia nodded happily for the happenings of late with the blocked path to the Underworld had left the slender caller worried and exhausted, and she probably was happy for any rest she could get_. "She also might be glad to be out of reach from Edge."_ Cecil had to grin inwardly -- he was very well aware of the difficult relationship the caller and the ninja had.

To his surprise Kain did not seem as happy as the caller. "Are you sure that you won't need me?" he asked, his question sounding strangely half-hearted.

Cecil was irritated by Kain's reaction. "This is not a matter of needing you or not, Kain. I just thought that--"

"What Cecil wants to say is that another person here may need you more than they will," Rosa interrupted her husband, smiling. "From what I hear Diane was already quite nervous when you left her behind last time, as we went to the tower of Bab-il."

Kain bit his lip. "Yes, you're right. It would not be very nice of me to leave her alone again." He smiled mischievously. "Besides that's just what Cid would probably want!" The friends laughed, though Cecil wondered secretly if his old friend, the chief engineer of Baron and also father of Diane, would have laughed about the joke as well...

"If Kain stays in Baron, why does Rydia have to stay here as well?" Edge obviously was not too happy about the idea of leaving the caller behind.

Cecil had to suppress a grin. "Does that mean that you want to stay here after all?" 

Seeing the sudden happy looks on the faces of his friends, Edge quickly denied: "No! Of course I want to come with you all!"

"We'll meet at the airship in 3 hours. Edge, will you please inform Palom and Porom?" 

Cecil stood up.

Edge winced. "If I must..."

Sighing, he left the room with most of the others.

"I'm going to look after Dawn!" Rosa exclaimed, brushing the arm of her husband tenderly, before she left the room.

Cecil smiled and was just about to leave the parlour as well, when Golbez laid his hand on his shoulder, thus keeping him back. "May I talk with you, Cecil?" he asked, drawing his hand quickly away, as if he feared that his touch would show too much affection.

"Of course…" Cecil could not hide a hint of displeasure in his voice for usually discussions with Golbez were not too pleasant a matter. Besides, the Paladin could already guess what Golbez wanted to talk about.** He decided to forestall the other: "You want to talk about the fact that I did not ask you to accompany us, right?"**

Golbez raised an eyebrow, showing once again the smile Cecil so feared – he feared it, as it was not transparent, being bitter and mocking at once, expressing disdain for others, as it seemed to express disdain for the dark-haired man himself. 

"Not really - I didn't expect you to ask me." Golbez stated.

Cecil frowned, cursing himself for presuming too much, again. "Then what did you want to talk with me about?" 

For a moment worry seemed to flare up in Golbez's dark eyes. "I just wanted to advise you again to be careful - you do not know how much the people of Mysidia really trust you. I'm not telling you this to insult you, but as one who knows how are hard it can be to gain trust," the dark-haired man said, calmly.

Surprised by the earnestness of Golbez's words, Cecil tried to smile. _"Maybe I'm really too hard on him. He only worries about me.."_

"I understand what you mean and I have to apologize for my behavior just now… My nerves seem to be worn out a bit," he told his brother.

"No need to apologize -- I did not feel hurt. You only spoke out what you thought to be the truth."

_"What I thought to be truth? Is he implying tha—"_ Cecil decided to let things rest. After all, he had not started to quarrel with his brother so far and was glad about that. "I'm going then... And don't worry about the Mysidian people..." He left for the door.

"Do not forget that others may not judge you concerning the "truth", but on account of their own ideas of it," Golbez said behind Cecil's back. 

"Being king does not mean that you have to set more trust into people than people might set into you."

Cecil stopped abruptly. "But being a Paladin means that... and being human..." Without turning around to face his brother, he added in a very controlled and calm manner: "You really should talk to Dawn when she's awake. She might give you some interesting insights about yourself…"

Golbez chuckled slightly. "I'm looking forward to it…" From out of the corner of his eye, Cecil could see that his brother had turned around and had went to the fireplace to stare into the flames, showing Cecil unmistakably that there was noting else to talk about. 

_"It's like he is closing the door to the reality, only living in his own world in this moment... Though I wonder how this world looks?"_ With a sigh, the Paladin left the room.

As he entered the hall, he spotted Kain leaning against the wall next to the door with folded arms.

"You're still here?" Cecil asked, rather absentmindedly. 

A frown crept onto Kain's face. "He did it again, didn't he?"

"What?" Cecil asked, though he knew very well what his friend was getting at.

"I'm speaking about Golbez. You two do not get along very well... I can see that he made you upset once more."

Cecil smiled faintly -- the problematic relationship between him and his brother was a fact their friends were well aware of.

Still, he shook his head: "It's nothing..."

Kain looked at him with that "don't give me that" look. "Cecil…"

"Yeah, all right. We do not get along well," the Paladin admitted. "But it's not his fault, but... but.." He sighed. "I don't even know whose fault it is! Maybe we just need more time..."

Kain looked sceptical. "If you think so... Still, know that you can count on me. I know Golbez's soul better than anyone else does…" The long-haired, blond man cast his eyes to the ground. 

"Kain..." Cecil watched his friend intently -- he nearly had forgotten that for the ex-Dragoon, Golbez's appearance was not easy to cope with either. 

_"Every time he sees him, he surely gets reminded of his own, dark past which was so bound up with my brother's own one…"_

Suddenly, Kain's surprised reaction to Cecil's proposition to stay in Baron made more sense. "_Maybe he fears that I did not ask him to come along because I'm mistrusting him…?"_

The Paladin took a step towards his friends, laying a hand on his shoulder, thus urging him to look him fully into the face. "Kain…" he said, his eyes full of sympathy, "I wanted to talk with you about our discussion in the parlour. Of course you can come with us -- you're always welcome. I just thought that you wanted to be with Diane and--"

Kain shook his head. "Don't worry. I don't know what's gotten into me..." He bit his lip. "I love Diane... I really do, but for a moment..." he paused, searching desperately for words. "I honestly don't know… Maybe it was the call of the battlefield or something like that…"

Cecil smiled. "Or maybe you just wanted to get Cid out of the way…"

Kain smirked. "Who's escaping his mother-in-law, my dear king of Baron?"

Both men laughed - Rosa's mother Margaret, the official 'dragon' of Baron was always good for a joke - as long as she was missing out on the fun others made of her. 

"I just wanted to tell you that I trust you, Kain," Cecil said, suddenly serious again. Their gazes locked for quite some time, the full meaning of these words understandable only to Kain, Cecil and probably Rosa. The others knew only of Kain's betrayal back then during the fight against Zeromus -** for Cecil, the 'problems' with the Dragoon had not ended then, however.As his friend had returned to Baron only some months ago, he had once again stirred mistrust in Cecil, and only through the help of Dawn, the crisis had been solved in the end. However, the whole matter had not been really Kain's fault, but mainly the Paladin's own one – Cecil had been the one who had falsely suspected that Kain and Rosa were having an affair. **

Kain knew what his friend was thinking. "Now, don't start to apologize... You're still the better one of us two!" he grinned and suddenly embraced Cecil, patting him on the shoulder. "I wish you much success, my friend."

Cecil smiled. He was glad that in these troubled times he had the support of his old friend, again. 

~*~

Later they all met at the landing place. "Be careful!" Rosa kissed her husband. 

"Don't worry Rydia, I'll be careful!" Edge said to the young caller, obviously expecting a kiss, as well.

"I wasn't worried…" Rydia smiled and patted the ninja on the shoulder:. "Just don't get on the nerves of the others too much!" She winked and started to return to the castle.

"Me? Never! I'll get you a nice souvenir from the voyage!" Edge shouted after her.

"Yeah – how about a frog... We could turn someone into it!" Porom giggled next to him.

"Porom!" Palom scolded, though had to giggle herself . No matter what happened, the two wizards seemed always to be in a good mood, especially when they could tease Edge.

The ninja rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe I'm always somehow stuck with you two..."

"Hey, we heard that!" Palom grinned. "Be careful or we'll tell that to the Elder! He might turn you into a pig.."

Her brother nodded, his brown ponytail whipping furiously. "Yeah, or he'll give you some strange poison like the barkeep did back then with Cec—OUCH!" His sister stopped his speech just in time for Cecil was already looking over to them rather sourly, obviously not amused at all. 

"He didn't mean it," Palom said, apologizing. 

"I know…" Cecil winked and smiled quickly - again, Golbez words about a possible mistrust of the Mysidians were ringing in his ears and he suddenly wondered whether there might be some truth into them after all. He remembered the Mysidian delegation, which had come to Baron after the earthquake at Agart_._

_"In fact there was much distrust in the heads of these people... But maybe they'll just need time..." _the Paladin frowned, his blue eyes cast down on the dusty ground of the landing place.

"Cecil! Are you dreaming?" Edge called from the board of the airship. "We cannot start without you - unless you want _me_ to fly this thing!"

"Heaven forbids that!" Cecil laughed and quickly boarded the airship, though his mind still was troubled. _"I wonder what will await us.. No, I wonder what will await **me in Mysidia..."**_


	3. Chapter 2: Unwanted visits

**2.**

_Unwanted visits_

As the airship reached Mysidia, it was already getting dark. Upon entering the town, the group spotted at once signs of destruction on the houses and the sounds of fighting were audible. "FIRE!" In a side street, a black wizard had just fried a monster rat.

"What by Odin happened here?" Yang gasped, shocked.

The black wizard turned around, breathing heavily and bowed slightly. " King Yang! And King Cecil! Monsters broke through the Serpent Way - the Elder was just about to send a message to Baron, though we nearly have resolved the situation ourselves . Still, please go see the Elder in the tower!"

"Thank you very much," Cecil nodded. "Let's go!"

"What a rude fellow," Edge grumbled next to him. "He only greeted you and Yang!"

Cecil laughed and patted his friend on the arm. "Perhaps he did not see you in the dim of the night..."

The Elder was already standing in the entrance hall of the crystal tower. "Welcome!" he greeted Cecil and company friendly, though deep lines on his face showed that he was greatly worried. "What a stroke of luck that you arrived just now. We already thought about contacting you... Surely you have seen the situation our fair Mysidia is in right now."

"Yes. But why didn't you contact us right away, Elder?" Cecil asked.

The elderly man flinched - obviously this question embarrassed him. "We… we did not think that there was a need to call on you sooner than absolute necessary. After all, our wizards were able to handle the monsters here pretty well," he said, for some reason avoiding Cecil's gaze.

The Paladin frowned. _"Maybe Golbez wasn't completely wrong with what he said... It seems that Baron is still the country Mysidia would want help from the least..."_

Yang tried to mediate: "It doesn't matter now. After all we're here. So, Elder, what exactly happened to the town?"

The Elder cleared his throat. "Two days ago, the Serpent Way suddenly stopped functioning. As we tried to investigate it, monsters poured out of its door and into town. With the help of many brave Mysidians here we were able to seal or destroy most creatures pretty fast. However, we had to seal up the Serpent Way as well..."

"A similar thing happened in Baron. Golbez had to seal the door at our side of the passage..." Cecil informed him.

"Golbez?" The Elder was Elder was staring at the group with wide eyes.

"Oh, I forgot… You don't know of his return…" Cecil said. "My broth... I mean Golbez was found in the woods near Agart. It seems that he was transported to the Blue Planet by means of a magical teleportation device of unknown origin..."

The Elder looked at him slightly sceptical. "And…?"

"You shouldn't worry - there is nothing we have to fear from him," the Paladin added quickly, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"He's right, Golbez is on our side. He has helped us out several times prior to this," Yang agreed.

"Yeah Elder!" Porom was very excited. "He scared a wyvern just by looking at it!"

"So… did he…" The old Mysidian frowned, his voice suddenly quite cold.

Cecil laughed, slightly nervous. Only he knew that Golbez did not scare the wyvern back then, but had used telepathy to manipulate the creature's mind.

"Golbez is still quite powerful, and I will not deny that he might have some problems to get used to his new life, but we'll take care of him. He can be of great help in these difficult times," he tried to console the Elder.

The Mysidian seemed to relax upon these words. "I'm sure about that. Forgive my scepticism, Paladin Cecil. I'm sure that you'll take good care of your brother and will make sure that he does not stray from the path of light, once more... Your father, Klu Ya, would be happy to hear of you two united, again…"

"I'm sure of that…" Cecil said, though it was a lie. "_If the Elder knew what Golbez really thinks about father…"_ His brother had made no secret of the fact that, in his eyes, their father Klu Ya had abandoned the brothers instead of trying to protect Golbez from the powers of Zeromus.

"But we should talk about such things later on," the Paladin continued. "Right now I'd like to hear out more about the situation... You said that the Serpent Way stopped functioning already before the monsters appeared?"

The Elder nodded. "Yes, that's right. At first we thought that the reason for this would be a broken connection inside the Way, but we could find nothing. The cause for the problems seems to lie in the lack of power.."

"Power?" Yang and Cecil looked at each other, puzzled. They had never thought about how the Serpent Way might function or where it might receive its power from.

"The Serpent Way is fed by a crystal," the Elder explained.

"A crystal?" Cecil uttered, surprised. "But I thought they were all sealed up on the moon!"

"No. The crystals of light and dark are only the most powerful ones, but in fact most of the inventions your father and his kind brought with them to the Blue Planet, are powered by crystals. They are a natural energy resource from the moon. Most of the objects to power the Lunarian devices are not whole crystals, light the light and dark ones, however. They consist of crystal dust or of little crystal shards, like the one the Serpent Way uses," the Elder said.

"And you did not protect this crystal shard after all what happened?" For the first time Edge joined in on the conversation.

The Elder blinked, rather uneasily. "We did not think that such an crystal could be of use to anyone. It's not as powerful as the light and dark crystals, as said… Besides we secured it via use of traps. It is in a safe place..."

"Maybe it is not as safe as you wished it to be... Where is the shard kept?" Cecil asked.

"It's in a shrine deep in the Mysidian woods. It was built there in order to have the crystal out of reach and to enable us to run the Serpent Way independently from Mysidia in case of an attack."

"I see. And have you already checked the shrine?" Yang enquired.

The Elder shook his head. "No, we have had enough problems here and no one to spare. The shrine is very old and no one has entered it for a long time, so-"

"So I guess we should check it?" Cecil offered, the hopeful look in the Elder's eyes unmistakable.

The old man smiled and folded his hand in front of his long, dark brown robe, giving him a nearly solemn appearance. "That would be a blessing!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's check it, so that I can return to Rydia as fast as possible!" Edge blurted out. He was about to leave, when the Elder called him back.

"Please wait a moment! As I just mentioned: The shrine is very old and full of traps to dispel invaders. You will need someone to guide you."

He called for his assistant. "Who of the wizards not occupied with fighting right now, is well versed in the layout of the Serpent Sanctuary?"

The man reflected for a moment. "There's only one I can think of, right now - Jonas..."

"Jonas?" The Elder did not look too happy.

"What's the matter? If he's a bit more "lively" like Palom and Porom it's no problem!" Cecil grinned with a wink to the twins.

The Elder sighed. "It's not that but..."

"What is going on here, Elder?" a young male voice suddenly interrupted the discussion.

The group turned around, surprised. Much to Cecil's shock the person before him was just too familiar: it was the young, angry black wizard from the Mysidian delegation, which had visited Baron some weeks ago. The boy seemed to recognize him at once, as well.

"_You_ again! Why is there always trouble when you are around! Are the monsters your fault once more?"

"I.." Cecil was too surprised to utter anything. The hostile reaction of the young man surprised him. The last time they had met briefly in the night of his return from Mt Ordeals, he had been at least reasonable.

"Jonas! You're talking not only to a king, but to a holy Paladin! Behave yourself!" The Elder sounded angry.

"Sorry, Elder.." Jonas murmured, though judging from his expression of his face, he was not sorry at all.

"Jonas? Does that mean that this boy is..." Cecil looked at the Elder with big eyes.

The old man nodded, apologizing. "Yes, he's one of our best students and the only one right now who can help you..."

"Help them with what?" the young man snapped.

The Elder straightened himself, trying to appear as formal as possible. "Jonas, I wish you to accompany King Cecil and his group to the Serpent Sanctuary. We need to check if the crystal for powering up the Serpent Way is still intact."

Jonas looked at him with disbelief. "What? No way! I'll not go anywhere with the man who killed my sister!" he yelled.

Cecil hung his head in shame. "Jonas, I've already told you-"

"I don't want to hear it!" the wizard interrupted him, his cheeks red with rage.

"That's enough!" Now the Elder was becoming furious. "Why are you always so full of hate? It was never Paladin Cecil's intention to kill the people here! What would Lina say, seeing you here, refusing to help your hometown! Anyway, it seems as if you're not in the least suited for the task, so we will have to look for someone else…"

The speech seemed to calm down Jonas a bit. "I... You don't have to look for someone else. I'll do it... but nor for your sake!" He glared at Cecil. "I wouldn't mind if you died in the shrine. I'm only doing all this for Mysidia!" The boy turned his back on the group. "Meet me at the town gates when you're prepared," he mumbled and left the tower.

"Elder… do we really..." Cecil looked at the old man, desperation in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for the stress we're putting you through, but there is no other way if you want to investigate the crystal and live to tell a tale of it...Jonas is very impetuous and full of hate and anger, but in his heart he is a good boy. It's just that he loved his little sister Lina very much, and never got over her death... He'll probably calm down once he gets to know you better..." Cecil could not ignore the doubt, which vibrated clearly within the Elder's voice.

"Don't worry. We're there, too!" Yang said, reassuringly, as if he had read his friend's thoughts.

"Yo! Don't fear, man!" Edge slapped Cecil on the shoulder. "Good ol' Edge will make sure that this 'Jonas' does not get on your nerves!"

"We will, too!" the twins Palom and Porom shouted almost instantly.

"I do not believe that," the Elder said, gravely. "The sanctuary is no place for kids - besides there's a lot of homework you've missed while you were visiting Baron.. It's better if you stay here."

"I think so, too," Cecil nodded. "Besides, they might need your help here against the monsters."

"Aww…" both kids seemed to be disappointed, but for once did not protest. The prospect of hunting monsters in town was obviously to their liking, as well.

"All right – we're off to the sanctuary!" Edge was already on his way out

Cecil shrugged. "At least someone is in a good mood. We'll be back soon…" He bowed slightly before the Elder and left the tower together with Yang.

The Elder looked after them, the deep lines in his face suddenly making him look older than he probably was.

"I just hope that the rumours are not true..."

"She's coming around…" Rosa took the wet cloth from Dawn's forehead, as she saw the young woman stir and handed it to Rydia. "Could you please get a glass of water? She might be thirsty when she wakes up."

Rydia followed her request, though not without giving the women on the bed a sceptical look. Although with every new day, the caller seemed to recover more and more from her experiences, she still had problems coping with Kieran's betrayal. This man who had inspired confidence in her only to use her for his own, evil plans, had stirred mistrust against strangers in the girl.

"Ugh… where am I?" the blond, nearly silver-haired woman asked weakly, slowly opening her eyes.

"In Baron castle," Rosa told her, friendly. "Cecil found you outside the town gates..."

"Cecil? Yes... I remember..." The woman tried to pull herself up, but could not manage it. "I need to speak with him!"

"Relax! You're still sick and need some more rest.. Besides he is on a mission in Mysidia at the moment, anyway…" Rosa explained.

Dawn frowned. "Mysidia, again?"

"Yes... The town is having problems with the Serpent Way. However, I'm sure that Cecil will return soon – and in the meantime I'll try to help you with everything I can."

Dawn seemed to relax a bit and smiled slightly. "You're Rosa, right? Cecil told me of you…"

"Yes – and you have to be Dawn. Cecil told me of you, too!" Rosa winked and both women had to laugh.

"Did he? I wonder what-" Suddenly, Dawn started to cough.

"You really need some more rest," Rosa said, determined, "and when you feel better you can tell us what happened."

It seemed that Dawn wanted to protest for a moment, but then she just nodded. "Yes. I guess it can wait."

"If you feel better, feel free to stand up and explore the castle. And if there's anything you need, please call the servants - or even better - just come directly to me!" Rosa said, standing up slowly.

Dawn's look seemed full of surprise for a moment, nearly irritating the young Queen. This look disappeared as soon as it had come and the other woman smiled, gratefully. "Thank you. I'll be only too happy to talk to you some more, later on!"

"I'm looking forward to it, as well!" Rosa smiled and left the room, closing the door carefully.

Dawn watched her leave, then she cast her eyes to the ceiling, her smile suddenly vanishing. Finally, she closed her eyes, and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

"So this is where you live..." Diane watched the weapons on the wall of Kain's modest room with interest.

Kain cleared his throat and scratched his head. Having a woman visit his quarter made him feel strange and nervous. Not even Rosa had ever seen the inside of his little room in the barracks. And even now, though the red-haired, lively woman sitting on his bed was the woman he loved, it just did not feel right.

"It's… it's not very cosy, is it?" He laughed sheepishly. "Not like your room in Cid's house."

Diane shrugged with her shoulders. "Well, it could use some flowers. But the way it looks suits you. Besides it's a safe place to meet, " she added and blushed slightly.

In fact it was not easy for the two lovers to see each other often. Cid had forbidden Kain to enter his house, showing him - unmistakably – that he was against any relationship between his daughter and a "bastard" like him. However, neither Kain nor Diane cared much for this order and Kain used any opportunity to visit his girlfriend while her father was occupied with something out of the house. Having to meet secretly at Diane's house still posed a nuisance to both young people. Meeting somewhere else was out of question as well - Diane's ankle was still sprained from the attack of a wyvern and she could not walk very well.

Even more so, it had astonished Kain to find Diane standing before the door to his quarters this morning. Though it had probably been very strenuous, the girl had somehow managed to come all the way to the barracks. Not giving the long-haired warrior any time to protest, she had just flashed Kain a brilliant smile and had demanded to enter his room, telling him that she was felling well.

Though the paleness of her face expressed that she was still in pain, her behaviour made Kain grin. _"She's really some girl..."_ Still the feeling of awkwardness did not leave his mind and he made a mental note to meet with her in more appropriate places, like a tavern, when she was feeling better.

_"Although a tavern with all the drunkards isn't a good place as well..._" Frowning, he erased "tavern" from his mental note.

"Don't frown like that!" Diane pulled him out of his brooding. "Are you not happy at all to see me?"

"How can you ask that?" Kain grumbled. "I'm just worried that you did run all the way to me with your broken ankle. You could not even be sure that-"

"-you would be here or be on a mission?" Diane ended his sentence, grinning broadly. She watched him, a curious look in her eyes. "Though I really wonder why you didn't want to accompany Cecil to Mysidia…"

"What?" Kain stared at her, his jaw dropping down – Diane's ability to hit just the right spot with her comments, never failed to amaze him. "I thought that it would make you happy that I'm staying here…"

His girlfriend smiled, her big brown eyes watching him intently. "It _does _make me happy... However, even in this short time we've been together now, I got to know you well enough to know that you're a fighter by heart. I don't want that making me happy means making you unhappy… I'd hate to know that our relationship forces you to do things you don't want to do…" she said, her words spoken in a most earnest way without any sign of reproach or anger.

Kain shook his head and knelt down before her sitting place, taking her hands in his.

He bit his lip. "I'm not good at this kind of stuff, Diane. But I'm not staying here because I feel forced or anything. I just want to be with you. You've changed my life that much I don't want to miss one minute of this "new" life of mine. It's just that I worry for Cecil... He seems to have a lot on his mind lately and after he has forgiven me so generously after everything I have done, I-"

"Generously?" Diane frowned. "You sound like you didn't deserve his forgiveness."

Kain cast his eyes to the ground. "Well, after all I've done I sometimes wonder how anyone could forgive me…"

Diane uttered a clear laugh. "Well, I could tell you a hundred of reasons for this!" She smiled and, raising Kain's head with her slender hands, brought her head down for a kiss.

Kain grinned, all sorrow and worries disappearing from his mind, his thoughts now only occupied with his love. "By the way… We really should find a new place to meet… My room is not the right place for a lady such as you."

Diane's big brown eyes sparkled with amusement. "All right, if you insist… How about the tavern?"

It had become dark by now, and the group around Cecil had decided to camp for the night. He, Edge and Yang had huddled around a campfire, looking rather fatigued. Jonas sat away from them, leaning against a tree and looking gloomily into the sky.

"Boy! Am I exhausted!" Edge muttered. "I'm not used to all this walking. Why didn't we take chocobos? It's already worse enough that we cannot use the airship, since the shrine is deep in the woods…"

Yang smiled. "The Lunarians who built the shrine surely had other intentions than building a landing place for airships in front of it. Besides we _could _have caught a chocobo if you hadn't eaten up all the vegetables for catching them.."

"I was hungry! I hadn't eaten for three hours..." Edge grinned and stretched himself out. "Ahh… I'm really tired... I hope that the shrine isn't too far away from here. I wonder if _he_ knows..." He looked towards the boy leaning against the tree. "HEY! Err… what was your name again?"

"Jonas…" Cecil mumbled, staring absentmindedly into the fire.

"Yes - Jonas!" Edge called over to the young wizard. "Is it still far?"

Jonas shot him a defiant glance. For a moment, it seemed that he had no intention of answering; but then, obviously forcing himself, he said, "It's not far away anymore… We should reach the building tomorrow around midday, I think."

"Great!" Edge moved closer towards the fire. "That means that we even may be able to return to Mysidia tomorrow, once we've finished our business at the shrine." He rubbed his hands. "I'm looking forward to a warm room in an inn. It's much too cold to camp outside..."

"That's only a matter of discipline," Yang stated, though he did not seem to feel very comfortably himself. Winter was nearing and though the trees saved the group from the harsh winds of autumn, the forest floor was already quite cold.

Edge smirked. "Yes, I've heard that the Fabulian fighters are fairly tough - especially their king. I heard this story about how you, my dear Yang, had to wait all night long in front of your own room, because your wife was angry with you and had locked the-"

Yang's eyes sparkled with anger and embarrassment and he quickly held up his hand. "No more, Edge… Yes, I'm feeling cold, as well… Only our young friend does not seem to mind the weather." He nodded towards Jonas.

"He is sitting over there because of me…" Cecil, who had obviously not listened to his friends up until now, murmured.

"Give him some time..." Yang tried to reassure him.

"But we don't have time!" Cecil shook his head. "Who knows what will await us tomorrow? If we don't work together, his stubborn behaviour may bring us all into danger… Besides I'm responsible for him and I can't watch over him if he even refuses to talk to me…" He sighed and suddenly stood up. "I'm going to talk to him.. There must be something that can be done..." he said, though more to himself as to his friends.

Yang and Edge watched him approaching the young black wizard, concern in their eyes.

"Can I join you?" Cecil asked the boy, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

Jonas did not even look up; some strands of his chestnut coloured, slightly wavy hair had fallen into his face, shading his dark eyes, which were stubbornly cast down. Still his whole posture did not seem hostile, but nearly afraid. As the Paladin looked at the 16-year old boy before him, it occurred to him how much Jonas was still a child. The black mage still had not looked up.

"All right. If you don't want to talk, please come at least over to the fire. Aren't you cold?" Cecil asked.

"As if you would care..." Jonas snorted.

_"At least he's talking…"_ Cecil let himself fall next to Jonas on the cold forest floor with a sigh. "In fact I _do_ care... As well as Yang, Edge and the Elder do. And I'm absolutely determined to bring you back to Mysidia safely, Jonas. I… I know that you hate me," Cecil took a deep breath - to speak with a person who hated him and had every reason to do so, was not that easy , "but you don't even give me a chance!"

Jonas suddenly stared him straight in the eyes, his look full of burning anger again. "Lina did not have a chance, either! Your men just killed her! As if the life of a human was worth nothing against some.. stupid crystal… Others told me that she was not even able to defend herself…" He uttered a bitter, nearly mad laugh. "How could she! She had just become a White wizard! She was meant to help people, not fight them on a battlefield." Tears suddenly filled his eyes and he turned his head away with clenched teeth, a wave of hate seeming to sweep over him from the inside..

Cecil was at a loss of words; shocked himself by the story of the boy, and his heart was suddenly filled by an unbearable grief. This attack on Mysidia would haunt his dreams for all his life, though he himself killed no man.. _"I only ordered the soldiers to strike, cold heartedly.."_

But what was his pain against the one of the victims of that attack? What could he say to ease the pain of the boy or of others, who had lost their loved ones, as well? He had often told himself that time would heal their wounds, but right now he really wondered if there was anything that could extinguish the flames of hate and sorrow inside of Jonas.

_"Maybe there's nothing that can be done…"_ The answer struck him hard and the feeling of helplessness he so hated came over him again. Cecil knew very well that the past was not changeable, but the realization that _nothing_ could ever undo what had happened, that he had destroyed the life of this boy and many others forever - the finality of it had never struck him as hard as in this night in the forest. As he looked at Jonas again, the way the boy sat there sullenly, but also lost, he felt himself reminded of Rydia. "_I killed her mother... and still she forgave me..."_ Even more than before, he realized what it must have meant for her to do such a thing, if this boy before him could not even bring himself to trust him.

"Why are you staring at me in such a strange way?" Jonas suddenly demanded, glaring at him suspiciously.

"You just reminded me of a friend: A girl who lost a very dear person as well," Cecil murmured, hoping almost immediately that Jonas would not pose any more questions.

The boy did not and though there seemed to gleam a sparkle of interest in his eye, he was either too proud or too sullen to talk any more to the Paladin. He snapped only a short: "And?"

Cecil bowed his head, feeling that this was one of the darkest hours in his life. "I just wanted to tell you that you're not alone in your pain. We both know that no apology will bring back your sister, nor drive away the nightmares… But maybe - just maybe- it will help you to know that I, too, will never be at ease for the rest of my life..."

Jonas slowly turned his head and watched him, his gaze suddenly calm, but also very cold. "Yes… I know this. I knew it from the beginning. I know that you didn't want to do the things you did - when you talk about the incident in Mysidia, one can see the pain in your eyes. Maybe you do have nightmares, as well…"

Cecil raised his head and looked at the boy, surprised. Suddenly Jonas's expression darkened and he continued, his voice suddenly very sharp, "But what do you know about being at ease or not? You cannot even start to fathom what I feel! Maybe you didn't want to do what you did, maybe it's not your fault alone, but you're still better off than I am! And that's why I hate you even more!"

With a sudden movement, he stood up and left for a place some feet away where he curled up, obviously to sleep.

Cecil stared after him, speechless. _"I can't believe it..."_ There he had thought for a moment that Jonas could forgive him and then the boy had become angry again. He tried to remember Dawn's advice never to give up hope, to trust himself… _"But what can I do in this situation? The boy hates me so much - he could even explain why... Though the strange thing is that he does not only seem to hate me and the men who killed his sister, but... himself as well... Is he angry because he failed to protect her?_

Having such thoughts, Cecil felt very weak and depressed all of a sudden. The discussion had shown him once more how hard the guilt, he had to bear, was. _"And I thought that there was some way to lighten the load a bit..."_ In some corner of his mind he suddenly wondered how his brother, Golbez, was able to cope wit the dark deeds he had committed in the past – or if he _did _cope with them after all, which was rather doubtful in Cecil's eyes.

_"I wish I could ask him right now.. Then again, I'm always asking him the wrong questions.."_ He felt utterly alone in this moment and wished desperately for Rosa or Dawn to talk to, which made him feel even more down"Even worse... there's boy I should find words to comfort and all I'm doing is pitying myself…"

"But you're trying hard," a familiar voice said next to him.

Cecil looked up, realizing that he had spoken his last thoughts aloud. "Yang..." he said weakly, as the Fabulian fighter sat down besides him.

"This young man reminds me a lot of you as I met you..." the older man said, smiling slightly.

Cecil looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

Yang gazed intently at the stars above them, his eyes calm and confident. "It's this burning anger inside of him... Anger against the world, against others, for they make you do things you don't want to… But most of all anger against himself, for not fighting against these things, but for letting them happen…"

The Paladin frowned. _"He is right.. As I was a Black knight I hated the King - the man I once so loved and looked up to – for forcing me to attack innocent people… I hated Golbez for taking over the kingdom, for doing these terrible things to Rosa. Maybe I even hated Kain... However, the person I probably hated most of all for being so weak was... myself…"_

"If you mean that I hated myself and maybe still do because of what I did, because I let things happen, you're right..." Cecil said gravely. "But I don't see what this has to do with Jonas. He is not at fault for the happenings! Though he seems to be disturbed by something..."

"'Fault' is something that may vary from perspective to perspective... And to admit his own fault, freely, sometimes might not make things easier, neither for oneself nor for others. Nonetheless, to realize his own dark side is still a very courageous and insightful thing to do. Do not loose your confidence, Cecil, nor your courage or hope," Yang told him.

Cecil looked at him for a quite a long time and to his surprise, he felt a bit better, though he could not fully grasp yet the meaning of his friend's words. "Sometimes I think _you_ should have become the Paladin," he finally said with a slight grin.

The older man's eyes twinkled. "Speaking wisely does not always mean that one _is _wise. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to realize my own faults as easily as you, and you're just at the beginning of this process. Maybe some day you will understand my words, Cecil. In fact I'm sure of this. "

"I hope that you're right. Still.." Cecil looked at Jonas, who seemed to have cried himself into sleep..

"Leave him alone for now - you're both too agitated to discuss things calmly. Tomorrow is another day. But now let's get back to the fire.. Edge might already miss us! "

"I'm not so sure about that..." Cecil nodded to the young ninja, who lay, loudly snorting and with his limbs outstretched, next to the fire.

Yang laughed quietly. "At least one person doesn't seem to mind the cold anymore – neither the one of the floor, nor the one in the hearts of some humans…"


	4. Chapter 3: Book and Cover

**3.**

_ Book and Cover_

The next day Cecil and his companions broke up early. It was a grey morning and stormy clouds were visible through the brown-red roof of leaves over the forest. While Edge seemed rather cheerful and started to tease Yang, Cecil was even more deep in thought than the day before. Jonas led the way, but did not say one word during the whole voyage, and carefullyavoided the others - especially Cecil - as well as possible. The Paladin was not too surprisedatit -- after all, Jonas had never made a secret of his dislike for him. Besides Cecil was brooding over the things Yang had said to him the night before_. "My hatred against myself." _He had never really thought about his time as a Dark Knight in that way. He had been aware of the deeds he had done, but his thoughts had always centered more on the damage he had inflicted on others, instead of the damage he had inflicted to his own, very soul. The night before, the Paladin had told Jonas that he would never be at ease, and though his words had been the truth, he had the feeling that another terrible meaning was lurking behind them... 

The picture of Golbez came into his mind again and he wondered if his brother would have had an answer to his question... "_Probably not... He'd just look at me with that mocking smile of his."_ Sadness and slight anger crept up in him, althoughhe did not want to think about his brother in such a negative way. Then again, Golbez had notgiven him any reasons to think positively about him. He quickly tried to ban such thoughts from his consciousness and to concentrate on the tasks before him. He slowed his walkinga bit in order to talk with Yang and Edge about what to do next when arriving at the shrine. 

Yang smiled, sensing once more the inner conflict of his friend between his own personal problems and the greater being: the task at hand. But while other people surely would have worried about the troubled mental state of a leader such a Cecil, Yang and even Edge trusted his judgment to the fullest. If there was one reason why Cecil was appointed leader of the group, it was because he possessed the ability to put his own problems **-- **no matter how great they were **-- **last, so that they would not cloud his judgment in the hour of need.Even in the most heated battle, Cecil would normally keep a clear head, always putting himself behind the needs of others. That was one reason why Yang was happy that he had a chance to talk to him the day before. As the King of Fabul had already noticed that something was about to tear up the young Paladin from the inside, he had wanted to lighten a bit the burden his friend was carrying. He did not want that Cecil sacrificed his own happiness for others too much.

"We're nearly there... Behold, the Shrine of the Serpent!" Jonas said, suddenly. Before them, a clearing opened in the midst of the high trees of the forest, though no ray of light fell on the building, which was towering before them. 

"It does not look very cozy..." Edge remarked, as he looked at the big stone building, which lacked any kind of ornamentation, like statues or decorations, and looked more like a withered cave. 

"Seems that the Lunarians didn't have much in the way of style... I wonder if they built Baron, too," he added with a grin to Cecil. Even Edge had noticed by now that his friend was troubled and tried his own special way of lightening up his spirits.

To his surprise Cecil did not listen to him. He onlystood very still, slightly shuddering, his blue eyes fixated not on the building, but on something else, something only he could see. 

"Err... Fromyour look I guess that something's not right?" Edge asked, frowning. He knew that as a Paladin and Half-Lunarian Cecil possessed the special gift to feel the atmosphere and possibly danger better than any other. 

His friend shook his head. "I--I'm not sure. For a moment I felt some kind of presence, but it is gone now... I can't describe it--it felt strange and somehow dark. But not hostile. It did remind me of something...or someone." 

"Do you want to go in, or not?" Jonas called from across the door of the sanctum. "We needn't anger the spirits here any more than necessary."

"He's right." Cecil nodded, though was still puzzled about the strange feeling he just had. _"If I could just figure outwhat it reminds me of..."_

**~*~**

"Dawn! Didn't Rosa order you to stay a bit longer in bed? Are you feeling better?" Kain welcomed the silver haired woman with a smile**, **asthey met her in one of the castle hallways that morning.

"Yes, I'm feeling quite well again, thanks to Rosa's efforts. It's nice to see you, Kain-- though from what I heard so far, our meeting back on Mt. Ordeals brought nothing but trouble for you," Dawn said.

"Well.. It did bring some trouble for us all, I'll have to admit that. Especially for Cecil and Rosa... However, that was not your fault, but my own... Had I told Cecil earlier about what had happened on the mountain and that I'd nearly fallen victim to the evil side again, things would have been different. Though thanks to you, everything was resolved in the end," Kain said, looking a bit uncomfortable during that moment.

Dawn laughed, causing some servants to turn around in awe. It seemed that Dawn's beauty amazedpeople wherever she went. The young woman did not seem to mind the stares**, **though**,** and continued talking to Kain. "But it wasn't me who resolved the situation, Kain. I just helped you onyourway. The decisions you made were your own, born from your own mind."

Kain smiled, Dawn's word easing his mind as they had done the first time they had met. "You're too modest... Anyway, I'd like to talk some more to you later, but right now I have an important appointment..."

"I understand. I was about to search for Rosa anyway... I want to thank her properly."

Kain seemed to reflect for a moment. "As Cecil's away right now, Rosa might be in his study... It's just down this hallway and then to the right. Though be careful not to cross Golbez's path. Believe me, he's not someone you would want to meet..." he added, his expression nearly bitter.

"Oh, but I'm a specialist for such hopeless cases!" Dawn tried to sound cheerful, but something seemed to worry her all of a sudden. "Kain--are you bothered by something?" She watched the blond man intently.

"What? Of course not..." Kain was slightly taken aback. "Maybe I'm just a bit nervous as my 'appointment' is with a certain young lady," he said after a while, grinning mischievously.

Dawn smiled only quietly. "It's good to hear that you've found a new love... I'll see you later..."

"Yep!" Kain bowed before her, then left for the stairs downstairs, maybe a bit too quickly as if he was afraid that Dawn might pose even more questions. 

Dawn watched him leaving with a slight crease on her forehead, as if thinking very hard about something. Then she shrugged and went downthe corridor.She stopped abruptly as she spotted a man looking out of a window just before her. He was rather tall and had long, black hair, which nearly seemed to form some kind of solid mass together with the black cloak the man was wearing.

"So...you're Dawn, I presume?" The man asked her without turning around. His voice sounded strange--it was dark and deep with a bitter tone in it, as well as an ironic one as if he wanted to mock her.

Dawn did not move for a moment, her features a strange mixture out of surprise, curiosity and...confusion. Nearly with some hesitation, or so it seemed, she approached the man and joined him next to the window, trying to get a better look at him.

"Yes. I'm Dawn. It seems that in this castle nothing stays unnoticed for long... I presume that you are--"

"Golbez..." The man stated plainly, his dark blue eyes only glancing at her briefly. Though his features were elegant, they also had something haughty to them, though Dawn was not sure if this impression was not only a facade. 

"Oh--so you are Cecil's brother, right?" She smiled.

Golbez gave a slight nod, then his voice grew even more mocking than before: "Seems that you made enquiries about me..." 

"Kain mentioned you..." The silver-haired woman replied, calmly.

Golbez raised an eyebrow. "And he didn't tell you to stay away from me?"

Dawn shrugged. She uttered a short laugh, which was so clear and unusual, that again people stopped in their daily workto look at her. "In fact he did, but I'm not easily frightened."

Golbez answered with a chuckle, which was so bitter that it caused Dawn to turn around. She leaned her backagainst the window ledge so that she was able to look Golbez directly into the face. 

The man returned her gaze with a rather calm and composed manner."So you're not afraid of me? It seems that you do not know much about my past..."

"Everyone knows about your past. Golbez: the black wizard under Zeromus... Besides you would be surprised of the things I know..." Dawn said in a neutral tone, her gaze not leaving Golbez for a second, though her blue eyes had a strange glow to them.

Golbez turned his head sideways, now watching her as well**, **intently. Though his eyes did not show what he was thinking, his look was as dark and mocking as ever. "You surely do not know as much of me as there is to know, or as you wanted to know..." His lips curved slightly into a smile. "And this way you won't find out much about me, either."

Dawn did not take her gaze away from him. "What do you mean?" she asked, somewhat absentmindedly.

Golbez's grin did not disappear. "What I mean is that I'm wondering how long you'll try to read my mind... As you can see it's no use..."

Surprise crept over Dawn's face, but only for the glimpse of a moment. "Yes, you've built some kind of wall around yourself that my powers cannot penetrate..." With a slight amused smile on her face, she continued, "But I'll only stop if you will discontinue reading mine,as well..."

Golbez laughed again, this time less bitter than before, but sounding amused as well. "So you figured it out already? We should both stop with this mind reading stuff then, seeing that it is no use to any of us... You've build a wall around yourself as well, it seems..." He directed his gaze away from her and stared out of the window again. 

Dawn tore her gaze from him as well and stared at the opposite wall instead, still leaning against the window ledge. "You, someone who is able to read the minds of others as well, should know that it is necessary to lock one's own mind away, for you do not only treasure your own thoughts, but the ones of others as well. Where did you learn that ability?"

"Zeromus taught me many things... Though it would be a mistake to compare your power with my one..." Golbez said without emotion. "I'm not interested in 'healing any souls'. My power was always used for something else... If you think of your mind as a book, I'm not reading it, I'm--"

"Rewriting it." Dawn completed his sentence. "You wield the power of manipulation in a strong form, though in your present state your powers would probably not be enough to manipulate higher life forms."

Golbez looked at her, a real look of astonishment on his face for a moment, though as always it disappeared after some minutes and his feature showed nothing else than irony and bitterness again. "I'm surprised. You seem to posses good powers of observation. I guess I need to apologize for my behavior. It seems that you know more about me, after all... Cecil was right to tell me to talk with you..."

At the Paladin's name, a slight smile brightened Dawn's face. "Cecil told you to speak with me?"

"Yes..." The dark haired wizard raised an eyebrow. "It seems that he hoped to make a better person out of his brother by this proposition..."

Dawn shook her head. "No...that was certainly not his motive..." She brushed some strands of her long silvery hair behind her shoulders and cocked her head slightly aside, as if teasing someone. "Maybe he just wants to learn more about his brother, who is so busy trying to hide his true feelings from others."

Golbez features did not move an inch, but his voice sounded more strenuous than before. "What an interesting theory... Who knows, maybe somewhere inside of me there's the spirit of a holy Paladin like him or the benevolence of a lady like you.." He laughed without humor.

Dawn seemed unimpressed and smiled. "I'm not as benevolent as you might think. As well as you are not that different from Cecil as you might think."

"You presume too much. Though I appreciate your efforts to heal my soul, I can only give you the same advice our 'friend' Kain gave you: stay away from me if you can. A promising young lady like you should know where dangers lie."

"Dawn! Here you are!" a female voice suddenly shouted from the other end of the hall. It was Rosa, who was standing in the door of Cecil's study. "Were you searching for me?"

Dawn waved in her direction. "Just a moment!" She shouted, then faced Golbez again. "I know very well where dangers lie. And I know that you are not one of them." she stated, her tone becoming firm.

Golbez raised an eyebrow, again. "So you think so... I thought you couldn't read my mind?"

Dawn laughed mysteriously. "You forgot my powers of observation! I've seen enough!" Then she turned around to join Rosa.

Though Golbez's lips were curved in a smile, his eyes showed bitterness. "You have _not _seen enough..." Still he called after her: "Then I'm looking forward to our next talk!"

Dawn waved at him without looking back. "Yes, so am I..."

**~*~**

The air in the Sanctuary of the Serpent was musty and had a strange sour smell to it. Dust lay thickly on the stone floor of the great hall the group was standing in.

"At least there's light here..." Edge sighed in relief, pointing at some torches on the rough walls, though these sources of lightbarely illuminated the room and the strange ornaments beneath the dust on the floor. 

"It's strange that some of the torches are still burning. I think it's some kind of magic..." Jonas explained, his eyes trying to adjust to the dim lights. "Stay close to me. Though I wouldn't mind if something would happen to certain people here--" his gaze fell on Cecil, "--the Elder wouldn't be too happy about me returning alone. This place could be full of traps, even I barely know my way around here. Only from some old construction scrolls from the library can I find my bearings..." He pointed towards a dark corridor which lead away from the main hall that they were standing in. "I think that's this way... Follow me, but watch your step." He took a torch from one of the walls and led the way.

"It's strange..." Cecil said to Yang as they followed the young Mysidian wizard. "There's still this strange feeling in the air, but I cannot decide whether it's for good or evil..."

"I for one do not like this place..." Yang frowned. "I wonder what kind of traps we'll find here..."

"As long as it's not some kind of mechanical firing device like in the tower of Bab-il..." Edge muttered, wincing as he thought of it. Back then, as they had tried to rescue Rydia out of the grasp of a man named Kieran, the wizard nearly had killed him with the help of such a device. 

In contrast to the main room, the walls of the corridor they now were walking in, were lined with an endless variety of tiles bearing strange symbols on it, which not even Jonas or Cecil could decipher. After they had followed the passage for quite some time, Edge, who was at the end of the group, obviously became bored. "Will this corridor never end?" he complained. "All this strange motifs on the wall tiles are making me dizzy... One can not even make out what's painted on them."

Jonas, who had said nothing until now, rolled his eyes. "No one knows what they mean--it's supposed to be some sort of old native language, a language only known to the Lunarian elders or the spirits themselves... It's supposed to... Oh no!"

"What is it?" The others asked surprised.

Jonas pointed ahead. The corridor was splitting to the left and right**, **but straight ahead there was only a big wall. "From what I know the way we have to go is supposed to be straight on..." Jonas said. "Unless the construction plans were wrong..."

"Maybe it's a door that needs to be opened..." Yang wondered.

"It could be one of the tiles..." Cecil ran a hand along the wall. "But which one... they all look alike to me..."

"Hey guys!" Edge suddenly shouted, "Look at this tile! It's slightly familiar to me..." He examined some part of the wall more accurately. "Hmm...looks like a crystal..." 

Yang joined his friend. "And there's something else...behind the dirt there..."

"Let me see..." Edge started to rub the aforementioned place with his thumb.

"Don't touch anything! It might be a trap!" Jonas warned. 

"He's right, please be careful, Edge... It would be too easy if a crystal tile would open this door..." Cecil said, frowning.

Edge rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know... Now you all think that I'm the idiot who's pressing some hidden button in the wall, thus triggering some trap which will kill us all! But this time you really don't have to be afraid! I only wanted to see what's behind the dirt, but I can't even get the mud off." He stopped rubbing at the wall, givinghis friends a disappointed look. "See, nothing has happened. I'm not always doing everything wrong..."

"We're sorry Edge," Cecil said. "We didn't want to insult you."

Yang took another close look at the wall. "Hmm. It really seems to be dirt..." He started to rub at it. "Still, there must be some way to get it off... There seems to be something shiny under it and I'd like to know if..." Suddenly there was click and the "dirt" sank under the pressure of his fingers into the wall. The ground under them began to rumble slightly. 

"Err...sorry..." Yangsaid rather meekly, upon noticing the angry glares of his friends.

Suddenly the wall before them began to move and slowly sank into the ground with a loud grinding noise.

"Seems I was right after all--the crystal tile _is_ the key!" Edge smiled triumphantly. "Seems that the Lunarians who build this place weren't so creative after all..." He stopped when it suddenlygrew dark around the group.

"I don't like this at all..." Jonas whispered. "My torch has gone out – seems the fire wasn't magical, after all… There seems to be a breeze coming from somewhere..." 

"Yes...I feel it too..." Yang said. "And did you hear the shriek just now?"

Cecil drew his sword. "Vampire bats..." he stated plainly. The flapping of wings got louder. 

"Down!" Cecil shouted, pulling Jonas to the ground with him as about twenty winged creatures flew over their heads. "Darn... There's quite a lot and it's too dark to see anything..."

"We have to get away from here! Let's take the new corridor!" Yang proposed.

"All right..." Cecil jumped to his feet, dragging Jonas with him. Luckily, the boy was still too surprised by the sudden attack to protest. "Let's go! Edge! Yang! Hurry!" As he and Jonas had just passed what in the darkness they thought to be the continuation of the corridor, there was a strange rumble again. "Oh no... the door..." Cecil whirled around, stretching out his hand. Where the opening had been some seconds ago, there was only the cold feel of stone. The door had closed again.

"And what now?" Jonas hissed sharply. "Are we waiting here?"

Cecil ignored his tone, for he was too occupied with trying to open the stonewall again. 

"Just great..." Jonas murmured behind him. "If we could at least cast light, but that will probably draw the attention of every monster in this dark hall to us..."

"Shh!" Cecil held up his hand, silencing Jonas. "I think I hear Edge's voice through the door." He pressed his ear against the wall. "Edge? Is everything okay?" 

The ninja's voice sounded muffled through the thick stone wall. "We're all right, Cecil! Yang is just about to find the tile to open the door again, but that might take a while in this darkness... He says that you should go on ahead. After all, we don't know when the bats will strike again. We'll follow you shortly..."

"All right!" Cecil answered. "Be careful! What corridor do we have to take next, Jonas?"

The young wizard did not answer. "Jonas!" Cecil repeated, rather sharply. "Edge and Yang need to know which way to take when they've opened the door again." 

"It's the one to the left, right here..." Jonas murmured, avoiding the Paladin's gaze stubbornly.

"All right, got it!" Edge shouted. "Take care..."

"Let's go!" Cecil said and felt his way around the wall until he found the corridor. Jonas followed him without a word. "_Great... now I'm alone with him." _Cecil wished that things had not turned out this way, but they had no choice in the matter. Vampire bats were ferocious hunters and they could certainly see better in the dark than they could.

The two men followed the dark corridor for some time. After a while it turned and led into another great hall which was illuminated by magical torches. "Light!" Cecil sighed, relieved. "It should be safe here to wait for Yang and Edge..." He looked around in the room. It had a high ceiling and a stone floor with broken tiles. Suddenly the Paladin had the strange feeling of another presence besideshim and Jonas. 

Then he remembered what this feeling reminded him of . _"The moment on __Mt.__Ordeals__, as father spoke to me... There's this feeling of familiarity here as well, though not as strong as back then... Besides this presence also feels...wrong..."_ He felt nervousness creeping up in him. Being in this room made him feel uneasy. "I hope that there are not any more traps here..." he whispered.

Jonas said nothing, but started to examine the room on his own.

"Be careful! The floor looks cracked!" Cecil warned him from afar.

Jonas shot him a defiant look. "I can take care of myself. Besides, therecords say that it's safe... I'm not letting you order me about. I don't care if you're a king or not!"

"I wasn't trying to order you about!" Cecil began to argue. "I just don't want something to happen to you..."

"As if _you_ could protect anyone... I heard you couldn't even protect your own wife, Lady Rosa, from getting abducted..." Jonas snapped. 

Though the words hit Cecil deep, the stubbornness of Jonas also angered him. Still he reached out for the young boy's arm to keep him back. "Let me at least try to protect you..." he begged.

Jonas turned around, his gaze hurt. He suddenly reminded Cecil so much of the way Rydia had looked back then as she had awoken in Kaipo. "Don't touch me!"

Cecil drew back his hand before he had reached the wizard's arm. "Jonas... I don't want to harm you. I know that you can't musterthe least bit of sympathy for me, but please try to trust me..."

"Do you know what you're asking of me?" Jonas glared at the Paladin.

"Maybe I do..." Cecil ran a hand through his hair. _"Maybe he's right… It surely wasn't easy for Rydia to trust me, as well."_

"Are you thinking of this girl again?" Jonas snapped, startling Cecil. Obviously the story had wakened the interest of the wizard.

"Yes... In order to survive she had to trust someone, as well..." the Paladin told the boy, hoping that this would satisfy Jonas' curiosity. Unfortunately, it did not.

"You said that she lost a dear person as well as I did... So, did the person she had to trust had something to do with the loss of this person?" Jonas asked, and for the first time showedno anger within his voice, only curiosity.

Old wounds brokeup again within him and forced Cecil to bow his head. "She had to trust the man who killed her mother... Hebegged to let him protect her..."

"That...that sounds horrible! Who was this girl?" Jonas asked, suddenly real concern in his voice. He even took a step towards the Paladin again.

_"It's too late to lie now." _Cecil cursed the moment he had started to tell Jonas about the incident. "She's called Rydia... Maybe you saw her briefly as you visited the castle..." Cecil said as neutral as possible. He did not want to bring up their fight in the throne room back then.

Jonas' features stiffened and he backed away a bit. "So...she is this friend..." he murmured and suddenly realization, a horrible realization was mirroredonhis features. It was then that Cecil knew that everything was lost. Jonas had probably already fathomed the terrible reality. He bit his lip, waiting for the last merciless question, feeling like a convicted man waiting for the sentence.

The boy stared at him. "So...the man who killed her mother was..."

"That wasme... I had been sent on a mission by the King of Baron. However, I didn't want to... " 

"Shut up!" Jonas, who had known the answer to his question the moment he had seen Cecil's shoulders slack down, interrupted him. "So I'm not the only victim of your doings. And that time you even killed the person with your own hands..." He backed away, slowly, his face a mask of horror and disgust.

Cecil shook is head, his expression full of pain. "Jonas, please. I told you this story to show you that--"

"That you understand?" The young wizard shouted, clenching his fists. "The only thing this story shows me is that you're a monster! I don't know what you did so that the girl forgave you, but it won't work with me..." He quickened his steps, not caring to look where he was going, his face all pale from rage and shock.

"Jonas, I didn't want to kill her mother as well as your sister... Please listen to me and come back here!" Cecil shouted after him.

Jonas shook his head. "Murderer! I won't listen to your foul words forone moment longer! And you want to protect me?"

"Jonas..." Cecil did not know what to say.

Jonas gave him an arrogant look and backed away even more as suddenly a tile gave way under him with a loud crash.

"Jonas!" Cecil raced towards him, though he was not fast enough. Another part of the floor collapsed under Jonas. Luckily, the young wizard was able to cling to the edge of another tile However, even from afar, Cecil could see that only black emptiness loomed under him. "Hang in there!" The Paladin shouted, though hehad to slow down his steps as he saw that the floor around Jonas looked extremelyunstable.

"Great...it's all decayed**.** But I have no choice..." Cecil let himself down on his stomach and crawled forward, carefully, until he had reached Jonas, who was clinging to the edge of the hole. His face was pale and his eyes were full of fear.

"I'll get you out of there..." Cecil said and grabbed the wrist of the young man. Under him, a stone gave way, but only slightly. 

"Don't!" Jonas cried, "If you try to pull me up the weight will bring the other stones to collapse as well..."

"Not if I'm careful!" Cecil tried to sound as confident as he could and shifted his weight a bit to the left, away from the tile which had just cracked. "Can you take my arm?" he asked. Jonas nodded with clenched teeth and carefully let go of the stone with his left hand and grabbed Cecil's arm, which was holding his right wrist firmly. "I'll pull now..." the Paladin said and started to heave up the young man, while trying to balance his own bodyon the floor. With much effort, he finally was able to pull the wizard onto the floor next to him, panting heavily. However, there was no time to relax, as the floor was once again creakingominously. 

"We have to get away from here! The floor here will not hold our weight any longer..." Cecil panted and for once Jonas did not protest, but nodded. They carefully crawled forward on their stomachs, but had not even covered three tiles before the floor under them collapsed, taking the two into the unsure darkness.


	5. Chapter 4: Fiery times

**4.**

_Fiery times_

"Yes! Finally I've found it again!" Yang proclaimed and pressed the tile on the wall. The secret door into the next corridor slid open with a loud grind.

"Though it's still dark..." Edge muttered. "Cecil and Jonas were more lucky. One of them was probably able to cast light..."

"I hope that we'll find them soon. I'm presuming that Cecil and our young wizard friend are not too happy to be on their own together," Yang said while he and Edge felt the walls all over, trying to find their way. "Jonas said to follow the corridor to the left..." 

"He must have meant this one..." the ninja said, "follow my voice, Yang..."

The two men stumbled slowly along the narrow path. "Ouch... I tripped over something..." Edge cursed. "It's so pitch-black; I cannot see where I'm stepping. That's enough! Stay behind me, Yang! I'm gonna senda flame spell into the corridor in front of me. This will light the surroundings at least for some seconds!"

Yang sounded rather doubtful. "Edge.. I'm not so sure if this is a good idea--"

"FLAME!" Edge shouted, his right arm stretched inthe direction of the floor. Towering flames filled the corridor in front of them for a moment and both men had to trace their steps backwards to escape the heat. In the midst of the burning flames a loud shriek mingled.

"And? What did you see?" Yang asked.

"Err... Eyes?" Edge blinked nervously.

Something black fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"What was that?" Edge stepped forward, nudgingthe thing with his foot. "A...dead bat?"

Suddenly both men felt as if they were beingwatched.

"Edge... Did you hear that shriek? I think..."

"Yes, we must have stumbled right into a nest of--"

Pandemonium broke out as at least 50 bats left their sleeping place under the ceiling and raced through the corridor, only missing the heads of Edge and Yang by inches.

"The commotion of my spell must have woken them up!" Edge shouted and did just the right thing: he started to run -- as well did Yang.

"Does this stupid corridor never end?!" the ninja cursed. It would only be a matter of time until the bats would figure out where their prey had run off to.

"To your left..." a friendly voice whispered suddenly into Edge's ear.

Without thinking, Edge obeyed and realized that there was no wall to his left, only a little alcove. "Yang!" he shouted, "there's another hallway somewhere on the left wall! Hurry!"

Breathless and panting he leaned against the wall and was soon followed by Yang. With loud and terrible shrieking, the bats still flew in the corridor, but none got lost in the passageway the two men were standing in, as if they were being protected by a magical spell.

"Seems we're safe for the moment," Yang panted. "What luck that you found this gap in the wall..."

"Didn't you hear the voice?" Edge asked him.

"What voice?" Yang gave him a puzzled look.

"There was a voice helping me--it was right next to me...though..." Edge tried to spot theowner of the voice within the darkness about them. "Though there's no one here..."

"I'm a bit down the corridor..." a female voice suddenly said again next to his ear,sounding very friendly and soothing.

"There! Just now again! Didn't you hear anything?"

"No..." Yang gasped for breath. "I need to take a little rest... Seems I'm getting old... Don't wander off alone in this darkness, Edge."

"Okay..." Edge said, though had already begun to follow the hallway. "I only want to take a peek around the next corner. Hmm... there is just another passage..."

"You're nearly there**..." **the friendly voice said to him again. At the far end of the corridor, light seemed to shimmer. Edge looked back, rather warily, and could just roughly make out Yang's shape. "I'm just gonna take a look..." he murmured**, **not able to withstand his curiosity. He followed the direction of the shimmer slowly, only to find himself in a torch lit room similar to the main one of the temple, but much smaller. Edge turned around, but could see no one. "Hello? Are you still there?" he shouted nervously--it looked as if some shadow in the corner of the room had just moved. 

"I'm right here!" a female voice laughed and silky arms suddenly encircled his shoulders from behind. Two slender white hands came into view and Edge could feel the tickle of soft hair against his neck, giving him goose pimples. 

"Umm..." Edge's gaze followed the arms slowly sideways and then upwards, not daring to move for some reason. Finally, his vision beheldone of the most beautiful women he had ever seen: deep green eyes, full, red lips and elegant features surrounded by silky, rich, burgundy red hair. 

In fact, she _was_ the most beautiful women he had ever seen and there was nothing unnatural around her… Except for the fact that she was not standing on the ground, but was hanging from the ceiling in some kind of strange cocoon…

"How nice of you to visit me!" The woman smiled seductively, her red lips exposing perfect, white teeth, though it occurred to Edge that her eye-teeth were rather long...

"Sorry -- I must be going, now!" the ninja laughed nervously, squirming quickly out of her grip. He did not come far, though, for the arms of the unknown beauty were laid around him again, this time gripping himtighter. "But we didn't even come to know one another properly..." the woman said in a honeyed voice.

"And we don't want to!" Edge snapped, trying to get one arm free in orderto get hold of his sword. "Yang!" he shouted. "Can you hear me? I could use your help here! _Really!!!"_

"So there's another one here? Fine! Means someone for my pantry as well!" the woman laughed, exposed her sharp teeth and prepared for a "healthy" bite into Edge's neck. 

"Wahh!" The ninja turned around just in time to give her a full blow with his head; both heads banged together and for a moment the world went black before Edge's eyes. The vampire woman uttered a cry of pain and loosened her grip, giving him enough time to dash away from her. 

"Don't think that you can get away that easily!" the woman shouted, one hand at her hurting forehead, the other one outstretched in Edge's direction. "DRAIN!" 

The ninja felt a magical force sucking at his strength, and his legs suddenly felt very heavy. As he turned his head around he saw, much tohis horror, that the Vampire lady was still on her feet, or rather, on her cocoon and was catching up with him. But it was no use. He could not run any farther and had to pause for a moment in order to catch his breath.

"Good boy!" She cried, "I don't like the taste of too excited prey!"

"See, I'm not a good choice!" Edge pantedin a fit of desperation. 

To his surprise, the Vampire Lady stopped suddenly and seemed to reflect. "You have a point there." She flashed him another rapturous smile. "But I guess after one hundred years without any human blood at all, I can't be too picky," she purred and opened her arms for one final embrace.

"Edge! Down!" A voice shouted. The ninja obeyed at once, having problems keepingto his feet anyway. Yang used this chance to break free some loose stone tile from the wall and through them over Edge's head, hitting the surprised vampire in the face. 

"Ouch!" The creature screamed, her upper body swaying back and forth in the air. 

"I have to act while she is defenceless..." Edge murmured, the drain spell was obviously wearing off and he decided to try a magic spell. "This did work against your little bat friends as well!" he shouted und unleashed the magic, rolling backwards to avoid the fire. "FLAME!"

"ACK!" The Vampire Lady screamed horribly as her hair caught fire. Cursing and trying to extinguish the flames with her bare hands, she rushed away in panic, disappearing into some dark corridor.

"Edge! Are you all right?" Yang asked, joining his friend.

"Yes...yes I think so..." the ninja panted, still too exhausted to make jokes about the situation. Not for long, though. "Yeah...my luck with the ladies!" He suddenly grinned broadly, looking up at Yang.

"Let's try to get away from here as fast as possible. Who knows when your lady friend might return... I'm worried also for Cecil and Jonas... We don't know what else occupies these old ruins..." The karate master gave Edge a warning glance.

"We can get some torches in the room at the end of this corridor... There are also stairs leading down--how about trying our luck? It can't be any moreworse than the creatures on the way we came from..." Edge proposed.

"You're right. Let's go." Yang nodded, helping Edge, who was still a bit weak, onto his feet. "Maybe we'll find Cecil and Jonas that way..."

~*~

Cecil opened his eyes, feeling a terrible pain in his head. _"Well at least nothing seems to be broken_..." He sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head and looking up. There, several feet up, he could see a hole. Slowly he remembered that he and Jonas had fallen through the floor. During the plunge he had tried to get hold of Jonas to easehis fall, but then everything had gone black... 

He was aware that someone was lying next to him -- it was indeedthe young wizard. Cecil moved closer to him and examined the boy: Jonas was still breathing, but unconscious. From the boy's forehead, blood was trickling down from a big scratch. Cecil leanedhim against a stone and then closed his eyes in concentration. "Cure!" A sparkling yellow light formed slowly in his hands. He carefully touched Jonas' forehead to stop the bleeding, at least a bit. 

In that moment, the wizard slowly opened his eyes, mumbling something. 

"Don't worry…" Cecil said. "We have crashed through the floor, but luckily our fall was not that high... You have a nasty scratch there, though, and I'm just trying to heal--"

He did not get any further, for with a sudden amount of strength, Jonas cried out: "FIRE!" The spell slapped away the hand of the Paladin with a soaring flame, sending him backwards. 

"Don't touch me with your unholy magic!" the wizard yelled. He had jumped to his feet and though he was swaying, he looked ready to cast another spell at once if his strength would just allow it.

"Jonas..." Cecil looked at him, his features full of shock. Suddenly he got aware of a burning pain in his left wrist. He winced, as he looked down, seeing that a good part of his arm was blistered and considerably burnt. Clenching his teeth and trying to lock away the pain, he scrambled back to his feet and approached the angry boy. "I just wanted to help you with my white magic!" he exclaimed, a slight tone of anger in his voice.

"I can heal myself! My sister taught me how!" Jonas snapped and started to mumble a cure spell, which fizzled. It was clear for Cecil that the young man was not trained in white magic -- besides he looked so weak that it was a wonder he was still able to stand. Cecil noticed with worry that the wound on the boy's forehead was still bleeding. 

"You're a black mage, Jonas... Your abilities in white magic are not strong enough... Besides your wound's weakening you... It's still bleeding. So let me help you!" Cecil tried to convince him.

"No." The boy stated stubbornly. He tried to back away even more from the Paladin, like a wounded deer trying to outback the hunter, but was stopped by a wall. "Just because you saved my life back then doesn't mean that I'm liking or trusting you now. You're still a murderer..." he said with a quivering voice, wincing in pain as he carefully reached out for the wound on his head.

"Fine. Call me a murderer, call me everything you want... However, I'm not letting someone I've just saved some minutes ago, die. So I'm going totake a look at this wound now!" Cecil snapped, quickly grabbing the collar of Jonas with his one hand and pressing him onto the wall, carefully, but strongly, while starting his cure spell again. Jonas gasped and tried to push away the Paladin, but to no avail -- Cecil was too strong for him. 

"So once again, you decide to use force where your poor diplomatic abilities fail," Jonas hissed, his eyes sparkling with hate and hurt pride. "Reminds me of our first meeting in Baron... Do you like hurting people that much?" 

"How often do I have to tell this?" Cecil said as patiently as he could, "I do not like hurting people at all... Not even when I was a Dark Knight. I was just following orders... This does not excuse anything, though. Maybe I'll just have to accept that you will never trust me or stop hating me--It could be something I deserve... But I will _not_ accept that you die here..." He paused for a moment to concentrate on the healing spell once more. The light in his hand grewstronger. "That's a pretty deep wound you have there... What do you prefer more: accepting my help, or possibly bleeding to death here in the presence of the man you hate most, knowing that _he_ will survive?" 

Jonas bit his lip. "All right...you have a point here," he grumbled. "I'll hold still, but only because I want to stay alive. Besides, I certainly don't want _you of all people being the last person I'llhave to see before I die…"_

Cecil nodded and let go of him without breaking his spell, as Jonas' wound was closing only slowly. On top of that, it was getting more and more hard for the Paladin to maintain the spell: Though his powers had become stronger in time, he was still not a full-fledged white wizard like Rosa and the pain of his left arm did not make it easier to concentrate.

Jonas watched Cecil's grim efforts of healing attentively. "Not that I care..." he said after a while, "but your left wrist does not look too good. Did I…?"

Cecil looked only briefly at his hand. "Oh that... That's from the spell you cast at me..." he said, trying to sound as if he did not care. 

Jonas frowned. "Maybe...it was a bit rash of me to do that... But I did just open my eyes, and the first thing I saw was..."****

"I know. Me casting a spell. That must have been a terrible sight to behold..." Cecil shot him a glance, which was a mixture of reproach but also slight amusement. He was too grateful that the boy held still and allowed him to close his wound, to be angry right now.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Jonas watched him with big eyes for a moment and then actually grinned slightly, though only a second later the boy's expression was as stubborn as before._ "He'll never open up, no matter what I do..."_

"All right. That's as much as I can do right now... The bleeding seems to have stopped. Still, we should rest for a while," he said, drawing back his hands.

Jonas only murmured some insult and leaned back on the wall, while Cecil stood up to explore their surroundings. The room had a low ceiling and like the rooms before, most of the stone tiles had pictures of crystals upon them. A torch was lit a little ways down from the room. Cecil suddenly shivered slightly. The feeling of some kind of power, though as well as familiarity, was even stronger in this room and it seemed to come from down the passage. _"Who knows what will await us there..."_

Cecil did not know why, maybe Jonas had misinterpreted his shivering, but suddenly the boy addressed him onceagain. "The girl whose mother you killed… Rydia was her name, was it?"

Surprised, Cecil went to Jonas and sat down on a stone next to him. "Yes... Rydia... What about her?" he asked, secretly fearing that this discussion might turn out bad, again.

However, Jonas showed no sign of evident hostility, and continued rather hesitating, as if being afraid of something. "Did she try to protect her mother?"

"I don't know what exactly happened when Rydia's mother died. When we found the girl, her mother was already dead. However, Rydia fought to her hardest against us, though she still was a little kid. Nevertheless she still couldn't save her mother for the moment we had killed her summoned monster, a Mist dragon, her fate was sealed as well. There was no chance for her..." Cecil said gravely, once again feeling how his memories of this night seemed to pull him into dark and dull chasms of guilt and despair.

"I see... So she had no fault in the death of her mother..." Jonas said in a low voice.

"No, of course not..." Cecil said surprised. Jonas' unusual behavior had pulled him of his own brooding. "There was nothing she could have done, as well as you had no chance to help your sis--" Cecil stopped abruptly with horror, seeing a sudden change in Jonas' face. The eyes of the boy were filled with hate again and his whole body seemed to be shivering with suppressed rage.

"Shut your mouth! What do you know of me?!" He screamed, his hands clenched into fists. Cecil backed away a bit, not knowing with what comment he had deserved such a sudden change inJonas' behavior. 

"Jonas, calm yourself. I--"

The young wizard only shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. "Have you ever wondered why Lina, being just an apprentice White Wizard, had to do something as dangerous as Watch duty? I said that she volunteered, but that was a lie..." In a lower tone, he continued, "Originally, I was supposed to guard the crystal that day... I wanted to go to town with some friends, so I skipped not only my classes, but also begged Lina to take my duty. I asked her to take my place, even though I knew that White wizards of her rank weren't allowed to do the job! Nothing had ever happened before. I mean, who'd have thought that someone would want to steal this damn crystal! And she said yes without hesitation... She always was that way, kind and caring, helping anyone as best as she could..." Jonas started to sob slightly. 

"It should have been me there... Maybe I would have been able to accomplish something by using my black magic, but _she_ had no chance..." the boy looked up, his eyes veiled with tears, though they seemed to burn with a terrible fire as well. "Don't you understand? It is my fault that she died! I failed to protect her--no, even worse, I endangered her by my own actions, by my own choice... You and your men did only what you were ordered to do," he laughed bitterly between his tears, "isn't that ironical? The men who killed my sister might evenbeless responsible for her death than her own brother..."

_"That's why he hates me so much... He couldn't bear the own guilt he was feeling and laid the blame on others...It must be so hard for him..." _Cecil thought sorrowfully, and knelt down next to the boy. "Jonas... I know how failing to protect a loved one and endangering a person unwillingly feels. It happened to a very dear person to me as well... You spoke of her already. It was my wife, Rosa..." 

Jonas showed no reaction and just sobbed slightly, obviously waiting for Cecil to continue. "A friend once told me that fault may be something which varies from perspectives to perspective. All the more my wife told me that the happenings had not been my fault, the more I could not believe it. It's the same with you... No logical reasons in the world telling you that you were not at fault foryour sister's death will be able to convince you. They will not be able to take away the burden you carry, as you laid this burden on you, yourself…" Jonas looked up, his lips quivering, his look not full of hate anymore, but enquiring, nearly afraid.

"But there's one thing that can be done and I beseech you to let me do it..." Cecil laid a friendly hand on Jonas' shoulder and looked him right in the eyes, seriously. "Let me carry a part of this personal guilt of yours. Though I've already got a lot to carry including the death of your sister, I'm willing to try..." it was nearly a plea, though a plea which was spoken out in a way that allowed no objection.

Jonas just stared at him, his eyes big and afraid. He sobbed one more time and then wiped away his tears. "I think we have rested enough... We should get moving," he said, his voice still hoarse and raspy. He stood up slowly, Cecil's hand gliding gently from his shoulder. 

The Paladin looked up to him, surprised by his sudden wish to depart. "Don't you want to give me an answer?"

Jonas tried to avoid his gaze at first, but then biting his lip, looked down at him. "Maybe you want to do something about your burnt arm before we leave... Might be bad if you need to use your sword with both hands," he said. It sounded not especially friendly, but also not cold. Then, Jonas quickly turned his back to Cecil and walked towards the exit of the room. The white haired Paladin stood up slowly and followed him, while ripping off a piece of his cloak and wrapping it around his wrist rather carelessly and with a sigh.

Though Jonas had calmed down a bit, things still had not turned out exactly as Cecil had wished for. _"I can worry about this, later..." _As he entered the passage, he felt the strange presence of someone, even more than before. "I don't like that at all..." he said under his breath.

"What's that?" Jonas stood still abruptly and pointed towards some stairs upwards in the distance. "Someone's coming... I heard voices..."

In fact, joking voices were echoing from the staircase: "I hope that you learned your lesson, Edge... Don't ever wander off alone again! There are lots of less risky opportunities to have a date…"

"But she was very pretty... Even though red-haired women are not really my type…" 

"That sounds like Yang and Edge!" Cecil exclaimed and approached the bottom of the stairs to greet his friends. 

"Cecil! Jonas! So you're still part of the living as well! This shrine turned out to be trickier than we thought..." Edge grinned. 

"Yes... we, or rather Edge, had an interesting meeting with one of the local inhabitants..." Yang smiled, however, upon a closer look at the others, hesuddenly looked rather worried. "Is everything all right with you two? Jonas seems to have a nasty scratch there and your left arm looks burnt."

"What? Oh, yeah..." Cecil murmured. He did not want to worry his friends by telling them of the unfortunate happenings between Jonas and him. "We broke through the floor and got hurt… But let's save the details for later. It looks like the Crystal room is not that far from here. Let's go," he said, with a pleading look into Jonas' direction. For once, the boy seemed to understand and lead the way without protest. 

"Cecil burnt his hand by falling down? How did he do that? Did he fall into a torch or what?" Edge frowned. "He never stops surprising me..." He and Yang looked at each other and shrugged, then followed the others.


	6. Chapter 5: Dark Waves

**5.**

_Dark Waves_

"Thank you very much for your hospitality," Dawn said, placing the tea cup on the mahogany table in the study.

"You're welcome! Friends of Cecil are also my friends." Rosa smiled.

For a moment, Dawn was very silent, just watching the young Queen. It made Rosa feel a bit uneasy, but Dawn's look had no hostility in it. 

Still she asked: "Is something the matter?"

In the instant of a moment Dawn's look changed to normal and she smiled. "You do not really know me, yet you're very kind to me, Rosa... That is something I had hoped for, but not expected…"

Rosa nearly burst out laughing. "If you were assuming that I might fear that something "happened" on the mountain between you and my husband, you shouldn't worry... I do trust Cecil. Maybe more than he does seem to trust himself, sometimes…"

"Yes...that could be very possible." Dawn had to smile.

"And I do trust you," Rosa said, in a more serious tone. "You might feel that I have no reason to do so, but the fact _that I do is reason enough for me. I'm very thankful that you helped Cecil back then on the mountain--as you probably know it was mainly my fault that he went off alone." She bit her lip. "If you hadn't been on Mt. Ordeals, who knows what would have happened to him…"_

"It was entirely due to your husband that things worked out in the end... I was only the guide and pointed him into the right direction."

"You were a very good guide, none the less. You were the one to straighten out the problems Kain and I caused with our secretive behaviour..." Rosa said, visibly ashamed.

"It was a misunderstanding between the three of you. That was all," Dawn told her friendly.

"But one which could have had dire consequences. Who knows what thesituation would be right now if Cecil hadn't returned to Baron in time to help us against the monsters?"

Dawn leaned a bit forward, and laid a hand on her arm. "Are you worried about the happenings of late?"

Rosa looked at her, pensively. "Who couldn't be worried? The sudden earthquake at Agart, the monsters from Mt. Ordeals, people trying to spy on us and Golbez's sudden appearance… By the way, I saw you talking to him as I called you in," she said, not able to hide a certain curiosity.

"Yes. He's an interesting man. Although I do believe that he and Cecil do not get along very well…" Dawn replied.

"So you figured out that much already!" Rosa nodded. "In my opinion Cecil is too pressing on him. Maybe the sudden reunion is too much for both to cope with…" she shrugged slightly, "but I believe that… Dawn! You're looking at me in that strange way again!" The young Queen brushed some of her golden curls behind her back, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I just was wondering that though these are no easy times, you do not seem to be afraid. Not even of Golbez."

"Oh…" Rosa's expression became earnest. "Many things are on my mind right now. I do not like the way our personal problems start to get intertwined with the happenings of late. But you're right--for some reason I do not feel afraid… As for Golbez, though he is the man I was a prisoner of and he's the reason for some of the most horrible hours in my life, I do not hold any grudge against him anymore. From the moment I met him in Agart some weeks ago, I realized that this Golbez is a completely different person from the man who threatened me and nearly killed me… I don't know why, but I just don't feel any fear when being around him."

"You sound like you possess a lot of courage…" Dawn had listened to Rosa's story intently.

The young Queen blushed slightly. "I'm not sure if this has anything to do with courage. You see--just one year back, before the fight against Zeromus--I was often afraid…" she suddenly paused and laughed nervously. "Maybe we should better change the subject… I don't want to bore you…"

Dawn shook her head. "By all means continue! I'd like very much to hear about this time. Why were you afraid?"

For a moment Rosa was a bit surprised how frankly Dawn posed her question, but for some reason she also did not mind telling the other woman her innermost thoughts.

"Why I was afraid? I...I guess that there aremany reasons. However, most of all I was probably afraid to be alone… That has always been my greatest fear--I guess that it has to do with the fact that my father disappeared one day and never came back. He probably died. Since then I never wanted get left alone by someone again. It was also one of the reasons why I ran after Cecil, as he was sent on the mission to Mist. But during our journey, as I saw the loss some of our friends had to endure--Rydia having to see her mother dying, Edge and Edward loosing their loved ones as well--I understood that I'd never been alone compared to them. During all my whole life there were always people caring for me--people I could trust--my mother, friends like Cid and nowadays Kain, again… And of course I'm together with the man I love… All these people are always there for me without expecting anything special from me in return. So in fact there was no second in my life I've been really alone. I just never realizedit. It's hard to explain, but that makes me...content..." The young Queen smiled sheepishly. "Now you'll probably think that I'm naïve, right?"

"No, not at all," Dawn watched her intently with her sea-blue eyes, though all of a sudden there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her gaze. "I think that you're a very strong and wonderful person!"

Rosa had to grin. "Then you haven't spotted my bad habits until now! We Farrels have an own stubborn--"

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. "Rosa?" A clear female voice asked nervously.

"Rydia! Do come in!" 

The caller squeezed through the door rather shyly--the presence of Dawn seemed to make Rydia nervous, still she smiled back as the silver haired woman gave her a friendly nod.

"Err...Rosa. Sorry to interrupt you two, but some rather annoyed town citizens--Ramuh knows how they got into the castle--are waiting in the hall. They request an audience with Cecil. It has to do with the destruction by the monsters in town, I think. I told them that I would call you…" The green haired caller cast her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know what to do…"

Rosa laughed, stood up, and went to the younger girl, embracing her slender friend. "But you don't have to apologize--it's all right! Thanks for your help!" She let go of the girl, who looked a lot happier already. "However.." the Queen of Baron added with a frown, "I wonder what they want to discuss. Some houses got destroyed during the monster attack, but they are already being built up again on the expenses of the kingdom." She turned around and gave an apologizing look to Dawn. "I'm sorry that I have to leave now, but as you hear the duty as Queen calls. It was great talking to you!" She winked and left the room, followed by Rydia, who looked shyly at the female Paladin before she left.

"It was great talking to you, too..." Dawn murmured, "Cecil surely is happy to have such a wonderful wife."

~*~

"The room where the crystal device for Serpent Way is kept should be right ahead..." Jonas pointed to a stone door. 

"Great--do we have to guess what tile to press, again?" Edge muttered.

"I don't think so, my friend," Yang patted the ninja on his shoulder. "Do you see this button there? That should open the door."

"Hopefully there aren't any more bats hiding around here, like the last time…" Edge looked skeptical. "Maybe it's a trap…"

"We will not know until we try," Cecil said and stepped forward to press the button. Edge and Yang exchanged surprised glances--normally the Paladin would consider his actions more carefully.

"The feeling I've had before is so strong now... I must know what's behind this door." Without hesitation, Cecil pressed the round stone and the door sled into the ground, quietly. The room behind it was completely constructed out of white stones**; **several glittering wires were set into the floor and were leading to a strange construction in the middle of the room. As the four men approached it, they noticed that some sparkling shard was in the middle of the device--obviously a piece of crystal.

"So the crystal is still here. But why doesn't the Serpent Way work?" Yang wondered.

Jonas reflected for a moment. "It has to be this construction around it. I've never seen such a thing before... It's not the way the Lunarians build their machines and crystal stands, normally." Suddenly he raised a finger to his lips. "Shh... Did you hear that? It came from behind the door there..." Jonas pointed at the end of the room.

Cecil drew his sword as quietly as possible. "I've felt some kind of presence here all this time now... We should be prepared for everything… Whoever cut off the power of the crystal would be unlikely to build such a construction and then leave it unguarded."

Edge nodded and drew his two swords as well, and while Jonas stayed a bit more in the background, Yang crept towards the door and positioned himself next to the opening tile. He waited until Cecil gave him a nod and then pressed the button. The door opened and gave way to another room, full of strange instruments and consoles. Kneeling down before some wires was a tall person wearing black armour. As the person stood up slowly and turned around, Cecil noticed to his horror that the armour had much similarity with the armour he had worn as a Dark Knight. 

"Don't move!" the Paladin shouted. "Who are you?"

The tall knight made a step towards him fearlessly. "So it was necessary after all to stay here to watch the crystal... Didn't think that anyone would make it down here..." His voice sounded tinny and hard through the closed visor.

"What are you doing here?" Jonas demanded angrily, though stayed behind Yang.

"Isn't that obvious?" The man took another rattling step in the direction of the group. 

"I have severed in the connection of the crystal from the Serpent Way and drained from it all its powers. All Lunarian inventions pose a hindrance to our organization and its goals…"

"What goal? And what organization?" Cecil asked sharply, the calmness of the man irritating him. "_He's alone and we're in the majority…"_

"The "what goal" would take too long to explain now... As for which organization: You know this very well, don't you, your Majesty Cecil Harvey, King of Baron?"

"So you already figured out my name..."

"We, of the order of the Dark Paladin know everything. And you're really making it easy for us. Here we thought that we had to hunt you down, but you never fail to appear where we want to have you... First on the mountain where Claudius was stationed, then in the tower of Bab-il. So this is round three. Let's see... I won't have to kill all of you--one or two will be enough I believe… After all, we need the others to tell the outside world what had happened her. Maybe I should go with the angry boy from Mysidia there…" The dark warrior reached for the hilt of the vast two-handed sword on his back.

"Don't you dare to move!" Cecil shouted and stormed towards the knight, sword readied, as well.

"My, my... How aggressive…" With a laugh the man pulled out his sword with an unbelievable speed, blocking Cecil's attempt to hit him with his blade.

The Paladin gasped for breath--the man was using a technique similar to the ones he had used as a Dark Knight.

"Ahh!" With a scream, Cecil raised his sword again to deal his opponent a blow, but his enemy blocked it again with ease, and took a swing at Cecil with his own weapon, this time. The Paladin could block it just in time, but the impact of the blow was too much even for him, and he was hurled towards the wall.

"I'll take care of him, Cecil!" Yang shouted, then stormed forward and positioned a well set kick into the stomach of the man--however, the attack did not even dent the armour.

"Guess we have to open this tin first!" Edge screamed and threw some shurikens. One got stuck in the armour, though did not seem to hurt the man.

"How dare you defile our shrine!" Jonas yelled angrily. "Ice!" Sharp needles flew in direction of the enemy, though they, as well, were reflected by the armour.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" The knight laughed. "Is that all you can do? Maybe Mallack has overestimated you after all!" 

"So Mallack is the name of your master!" Cecil murmured. He had recovered from the shock and was approaching the enemy for another attack.

"Time to end this," the knight hissed and pointed his sword forward. "DARK WAVE!" Spirals of pure black magic emerged from the tip of his weapon, the energies knocking everyone to the ground.

"How can he know this technique?" Cecil, who was still kneeling on the floor, gasped. He grabbed for his sword next to him just in time to block the next blow of the knight. Even more, the blow seemed rather weak, and Cecil used all his power to strike away the tip of the other's sword, giving him time to get onto his feet again.

"So you're still standing… How annoying…" the Dark knight exclaimed and took another swing at the Paladin.

"He's using another technique of the Dark Knights…" the Paladin noticed and quickly side stepped, successfully avoiding the attack.

"Good move, boy! However, let's see how our young friend here will defend himself..." the knight sneered and approached Jonas, turning his back to the others as if they posed no threat to him.

"Don't even try it!" Cecil screamed, storming once more at the knight, his sword raised. As if he had foreseen this move, the Black Knight turned around abruptly and dealt Cecil a blow which knocked away the Paladin's sword and sent the Half-Lunarian onto the ground. 

"Never let down your guard!" His enemy chuckled, pointing the tip of his weapon to Cecil's throat with a satisfied grin on his face. 

"Yang, Edge! Get Jonas out of here while he's occupied with me!" The Paladin hissed.

"Cecil!" Edge scrambled to his feet and, in a desperate attempt to help his friend, jumped onto the back of the knight. "Leave him alone at once! When I remove this visor of yours, things won't be so lucky anymore for you!" he panted.

"I'm getting tired of these games…" The knight shook Edge down with a move of his shoulders, still threatening Cecil with his sword. 

"Yang! Get Jonas out of here! NOW!" Cecil shouted again, as loud as he could with the blade pressed against his throat.

This time, his friend obeyed, though slightly reluctant. "Jonas, is there another exit?" he asked the boy. 

Jonas nodded. "There should be a one-way exit for emergencies. It's around the second corner in the corridor we came from."

"Alright..." Yang nodded. "Then run for it! We'll follow." 

Jonas seemed to hesitate for a moment, but as the King of Fabul pushed him in direction of the exit, he obeyed.

Meanwhile, the Dark Knight was watching Cecil, who was glaring at him with clenched teeth. 

"So you'd sacrifice your life for a boy who doesn't even seem to appreciate it?" The knight chuckled. "You are a fool--a courageous one, maybe--but a fool nonetheless. You should only care for the people who have an interest in you staying alive!" He glanced quickly over his shoulder, while pressing the tip a bit more to Cecil's throat, watching Yang enter the room again. 

"So...the boy escaped, it seems… I guess we need to postpone the killing to another day… You must understand, we might need you and your other royal friends later on," he said mockingly and drew the sword away. "But before that I'll have to take care of the crystal..." 

"No you won't!" Driven by anger Cecil was up on his feet in a second--however he was too slow, once more. 

"DARK WAVE!" The knight shouted, whirling his sword over his head--again the power brought everyone to their knees. Helplessly, the friends had to watch as their enemy went slowly to the stand where he removed the crystal with his gloved hand, looking as if he wanted to smash it.

"Hah. You'll never be able to break the crystal in such a way!" Edge grinned.

The knight squeezed the crystal more tightly, though the shard did not break, some sparkling parts broke away from the stone with a screeching noise. "You see, when the power of a crystal is drained, it's possible to destroy it rather easily. Though this one is not "ripe" yet, so I guess I'll have to take it with me," the warrior explained. "I'll take my leave then. Until we meet again…"

"Wait! Why are you letting us live?" Cecil called after him.

The knight turned around slowly. Cecil noticed that the man was breathing more heavy, although his voice showed only a slight hint of weakness. "Because we want the world to see that a bunch of would-be rulers, ninjas and Paladins can do nothing against the power of the Dark Paladins. You'll understand soon enough!" With that he left the room, the echo of his armoured boots dying away in some far corridor.

"Cecil, Edge! Are you alright?" Yang was the first to scramble to his feet again.

"Oh...man... How strong was that guy?" Edge mumbled, heaving himself into a sitting position. "My head's even worse than after my last hangover..."

"At least everyone is all right..." Cecil said, rubbing his hurt shoulder. "Where's Jonas?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"He's safe. I told him to go outside and hide... The exit is near here and I don't think that our armoured friend had any interest in following him." Yang told him. For a moment there was only an awkward silence between the three friends. 

"I cannot understand how we could have lost," Edge finally said. "We were four and he was one."

"And on top of that he took the crystal with him..." Yang clenched his fists.

"He was using the same techniques as a Dark Knight--only much stronger. I wonder where he learned them.." Cecil murmured, lost in thought.

"Cecil? Are you feeling all right?" Yang asked, concerned.

"Yeah... I guess we better catch up with Jonas and head back to Mysidia…" the Paladin replied. "There's nothing we can do here anymore."

~*~

"The secret exit has to be somewhere." Yang informed his friends, searching the wall with his eyes until he finally found something which looked suitable. Part of the wall slid away, letting fresh air and light into the building. As the three friends stepped through the exit, the stone door closed behind them, the wall of the building once again solid. 

"So you made it out alive after all..." Jonas said dryly, though Cecil thought that he saw a hint of relief in his features. But it might just have been his impression. "What happened to the Dark knight?"

"He got away," Edge said. 

"And he took the crystal shard," Cecil added, gravely.

"So that means that the Serpent Way will never work again…" Jonas said.

"Unless you can find another power device or we can get the stolen one back, I fear you're right," Cecil sounded crestfallen. "Anyway, we should head back to Mysidia now and inform the Elder about what we saw here..."

"You're right my friend..." Yang agreed. "Though we may not have any news of success, we are all alive at least. Right, Jonas?" he asked with a wink to the young wizard.

"If you think that I should thank any one of you," the boy said, addressing mostly Cecil, "you're wrong. In fact you started the whole mess in there by pressing the tile!" he snapped, turned around and started to walk away. "Hurry up. It's still quite a way to Mysidia and I don't want to have to explain to the Elder that you were eaten by some wild animals in the middle of the night."

"What's up with that kid?" Edge murmured, while Yang gave Cecil a nearly apologizing look.

The Paladin smiled, though a little sigh escaped his lips. "It's okay... At least he's talking to us..."

_"I guess you can't expect a person to change from one second to the other... Besides some people never change at all." For a moment Cecil had to think of Golbez. __"Maybe it' s not easy for my brother to change as fast as I would like him to do, as well…" he thought grimly as the group, battered and worn out, made their way back to Mysidia._

~*~

"They complained? But that has never happened before, since you and Cecil became rulers of Baron!" Kain wondered, nearly letting go of the soup spoon. 

He, Diane, Rydia and Dawn were having supper with Rosa in a smaller dining hall in the castle. Golbez had declined to join them at first, but Rosa had insisted on it. Now he sat, rather silently, at the table as well, following the common conversation with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile upon his lips. Cid was also present, seated opposite to Kain and his daughter and was watching them carefully. Just now the group was talking about the citizens who had requested an audience with Rosa earlier this day.

"They said that they wanted to know where the monsters in the Serpent Way came from…" Rosa sighed. 

"But we don't know this ourselves, do we?" Rydia shrugged.

"Yes. That's what I told them, as well. But they didn't seem to believe me, and said if we wouldn't know then who would."

"I've heard people on the street talking worriedly about the incidents of late," Diane said.  "There are all kinds of rumours going around. They say that the sword of King Cecil has lost its holy power and that some of you went on a mission to prevent the giant of Bab-il from getting resurrected…"

"But Cecil was able to restore his sword! And you only went to the tower of Bab-il to help me," Rydia said, blushing a bit upon remembering how much worry she had caused the others.

"But that's how rumours get spread," Cid remarked. "There's no reason to worry in my opinion. As long as it doesn't get public that my dear daughter is the girlfriend of a certain hot-headed young man!" He glared at Kain. 

"I think I have to disappoint you, Cid..." Kain smirked. "In fact we put an official announce on the wall of the tavern." Diane turned her head away and giggled.

"You worthless idiot! You did what?!" Cid leaned forward on the table, grabbing the cutlery in his hand more tightly.

"No! Don't get upset father!" Diane held up a hand. "He was only kidding!" She laughed.

"She's right. Don't get upset now…" Rosa patted her old friend next to her, on the arm. "Better finish your soup or it'll get cold," she said and had to grin, as Cid only grunted instead of answering and resumed eating.

"I'd hate to interrupt this cheerful talk, but have you ever thought about what makes the town people so suspicious all of a sudden?" Golbez asked into the round, a strange smile across his lips.

All eyes were turning to him.

"Well, what do _you think?" Kain snapped. He did not like the way Golbez was talking to them always with a mocking expression on his face._

Golbez smiled and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "You don't want to tell me that none of the citizens in Baron are aware of my presence here, even less of who I am..?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Even if they knew who you are and might feel uneasy in your presence, I cannot understand why they should think that you're responsible for the happenings of late... As I heard from Rosa you even sealed the Serpent Way to hinder more monsters from emerging out of it..." Dawn joined in the conversation, her slender fingers curled under her chin, reflecting.

"Ah, but for most people fear is a better consultant than reason," Golbez replied. "We should not forget what I did back then to many people here. It might irritate them that their king just took in a dark stranger into the castle. Who can say that my return to earth was really only a coincidence? That it isn't part of a new, evil scheme? That I've really changed?"

"You're right…" Rosa remarked. "Only we who have lived with you for some weeks now, know that you have no evil intentions..."

"Do we?" Kain asked dryly.

Golbez laughed. "It seems your Dragoon here is still provided with a healthy amount of mistrust."

Dawn watched his mocking reaction with obvious interest.

"Anyway... Maybe it is only natural that the citizens of Baron want to get informed… But what can we tell them to reassure them, Rosa? The only clue we have is this group... How did Kieran call them?" Kain asked.

"The Dark Paladins," Rosa told him.

"What? There was a man from this organization here?" Dawn asked, unusually agitated. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rosa looked at her, surprised. "I'm sorry Dawn, but you were so exhausted as you arrived here--I didn't want to burden you with our problems right away... Do you know anything about the group? You seem excited."

Dawn nodded and smiled again. "Forgive my sudden reaction, but this group is the reason why I tried to reach Baron. Some time after the incidents on Mt. Ordeals, I heard about a group called "The Dark Paladins" from a traveler. Apparently, they are some kind of new cult--the group members are visiting towns and offering their help to the people with whatever problem they might have. I tried to meet one of those Dark Paladins, but they had always already left the towns when I arrived. I heard though, that their headquarters are supposed to be near Tororia, my hometown…" Dawn explained. "It might just be a feeling, but something is fishy... The appearance of Claudius and his monsters on Mt. Ordeals, the earthquakes in Agart, all come together with the appearance of this group. As you all know, Tororia is an old kingdom with a strong tradition. It would be unlikely that such a "foreign" organization such as the Dark Paladins would be allowed to build their headquarters there. Unless they could convince our Elders that their goals are pure or..."

"Or the Elders were forced to allow the group." Golbez concluded her explanation.

"Exactly," Dawn continued. "It was only a suspicion, though, but I decided nonetheless to go to Baron at first to inform Cecil about it. I didn't want to disturb anyone with false assumptions, though, so I didn't tell anyone about this until know. But now I hear that strange things happened here as well... I should have told you about the group sooner, I have to apologize."

"There's no need for that--we could have asked you sooner about the reason for your visit, as well…" Rosa smiled. 

Dawn shook her head. "I still should have already known that something was true concerning my suspicions, as I was being shadowed on my way to Baron."

"Is this the reason why you arrived in Baron so exhausted?" Rydia asked, and then shrunk back in her seat as if she had done something dangerous by asking Dawn a question.

"Yes. Though I was already pretty exhausted by the long voyage on sea and the days of wandering, I suddenly had the feeling that I was followed by someone. However, I cannot tell for sure if it was monsters or something else. It seemed to be several creatures, so even for me there was no option but to run." She sounded embarrassed. 

"It must have been hard to come here all this way by yourself. You're an amazing woman, Dawn..." Golbez remarked, rather friendly.

Dawn nodded at him, smiling nonchalantly.

"I'm sure that Cecil, Yang and Edge will be very interested in hearing this," Rosa said. "I hope they'll come back soon. Cecil told me that things wouldn't take longer than two days or so…"

"Don't worry, Rosa." Kain tried to calm her. "They just wanted to have an audience with the Elder. What should happen to them? They are all experienced fighters."

"It's only natural that Rosa worries," Diane said sympathetically. "If you love someone, no matter how much you trust this person, you'll always worry about the person's safety, even if you don't want to..." She blushed slightly.

"Yes, but..." Kain started to say.

"What she wants to say is that in a relationship your life is not your own one anymore, but is getting intertwined with the other one," Golbez said with a raised eyebrow. "This is the danger of such a thing as love," he smiled cruelly.

"As if you would know…" Kain hissed, and took Diane's hand in his.

"Not further, boy!" Cid grumbled. "If I see you kissing her here in front of me, I can guarantee for nothing, not even for your life!"

"Alright, alright," Kain grinned sheepishly. "I think we are finished with dinner anyway. So we'll leave!" He stood up, helping Diane from her seat and they left the room, of course getting followed by a grim looking Cid. 

"Would you like to see the castle gardens before it gets dark?" Rosa asked Dawn.

"I'd love to," the silver haired woman replied and gave a questioning look to Golbez, who held up his hand, declining. 

"I prefer to stay alone."

"Very well… I thought so…" Dawn said, smiling mysteriously. "But don't be too hard on yourself…" With a wink she left, following the young Queen of Baron.

Golbez shook his head, looking skeptical as always when something unexpected happened to him. 

"What a fascinating person. Though not even she can grasp my being..."


	7. Chapter 6: Two sides of love

**6.**

_Two sides of love_

The next morning, the silence over the woods around Baron castle was destroyed by the loud roar of an airship. "We're nearly there," Cecil told Edge and Yang while steering.

"Man, am I glad to be back!" Edge sighed. "This was one of the most disappointing voyages in my life..."

"The Elder wasn't too happy as well…" Cecil sounded rather crestfallen.

Back in Mysidia, they had explained to the Elder everything about what had happened in the shrine. Although he had tried to remain calm, it was obvious that the head of the Mysidians was feeling quite stunned about the theft of the crystal by the unknown Knight in black armour. As there was nothing more they could do in town, the Elder then had proposed to Cecil and his group to return to Baron and hadpromised to stay in contact with them. He had also insisted on Palom and Porom staying in their hometown for the time being--if the Blue Planet was about to face another threat, he wanted to know that the twins were in the relative safety of the crystal tower, instead of having them fight dangerous battles.

Jonas had disappeared without any last words shortly after they had arrived at town and had not appeared again--not even as they had left Mysidia. The Elder had been rather upset about this, though Cecil had tried to calm him by telling him that nothing else could have been expected after all thathad happened. Secretly, though, Jonas' behaviour worried the Paladin as well. He had presumed that the relationship between him and Jonas had at least improved a bit during their voyage, but from the looks of it, the boy was still disliking him as much as before. 

"We're there!" Cecil exclaimed and brought the ship down on the landing place of Baron Castle. The news that Cecil, Edge and Yang had returned from their mission did not take long to spread.

Rosa was the first to spot them. "Cecil! You're back!" she shouted happily and ran towards her husband, embracing him passionately.****

Cecil returned the embrace, whirling her around. "Rosa!  I'm really glad to see you again!!"  Over Rosa's shoulder, he could see Golbez emerging from the castle exit--obviously, he had noticed the commotion on the landing place, as well. Cecil carefully put down his wife and gave a polite nod to his brother. 

"I see that you're still in one piece, Cecil..." The dark-haired man smiled dryly.

"Well, I hope so!" Rosa looked her husband up and down, then spotted his bandaged left hand. "Did you get hurt, darling?"

"It's nothing," Cecil said quickly, thoughfailed to hide a hint of irritation within his voice--the constant asking about the wound was getting on his nerves. What even more annoyed him was the fact that Golbez was looking at him with a mock of superiority. "_People might not trust you…" _his brother had said to him before their departure.  

_"In Jonas' case thishad turned out only to be true… But he can't know that my burnt arm wasn't really an accident, can he?"  _

However, Cecil had not much time to worry about these things right now, as Kain, Rydia and Cid had come out as well to welcome their friends. 

The Paladin approached them, but came to a halt as he spotted someone else – it was Dawn… 

She was as beautiful as he had remembered her with her slender build, the long silvery hair that nearly reached to her knees and those sparkling blue eyes, which seemed calming and encouraging at the same time. The female paladin had removed her silvery breastplate, and was now wearing a simple white shirt with matching trousers and long, brown boots.

As Dawn caught sight of Cecil, she waved and hastened her steps. "Cecil!  Glad to see you again!" She said and opened her arms for an embrace. 

Though Cecil would have liked nothing more than to return her embrace in this, he was slightly hesitant, with his wife just standing next to him. To his surprise, Rosa gave him a little push. "Don't you want to greet her?"

"Of course I want to..." Smiling, Cecil returned Dawn's gesture and embraced her happily, but also carefully -- though he knew what a brilliant fighter Dawn was, the stature of the woman was light and fragile.  

"It's wonderful that you're well again," he told her. 

"For a moment I thought that you didn't want to embrace me..." Dawn teased him cheerfully and squeezed him a bit more.

Cecil blushed. "I'm sorry, but I thought...you know..." Dawn's body was warm to the touch and the scent of her silky hair was sweet and lovely as ever--still the Paladin noticed to his contentment that being near to her did no longer evoke the same confusing feelings in him,which he had had on Mt. Ordeals upon their first meeting.  He secretly hoped that Rosa knew that, too…

Dawn laughed--the bright, clear laugh which had the ability to pull anyone out of the deepest brooding.  

"Don't worry.  Rosa knows that we're only friends!"  She gave a wink to the young Queen over Cecil's shoulder. 

"Seems you two were getting along well, then…"  Cecil grinned and carefully loosened the embrace.

"Yes.  She had some interesting things to tell about you," Rosa said as seriously as possible.

"What things!?"  Cecil whirled around, embarrassed.

Both Dawn and Rosa had to laugh.  "It was clear that you'd fall for that one!"

"Seems things have become harder for you, since you were away…"  Kain smirked. "Great to have you back, my friend, as well as Yang and Edge..." He nodded towards the Karate master and the ninja, who obviously was telling Rydia some exciting stories.

"Yes. It's good to be back.  However, we should save the celebrations for later and inform everyone about the mission.  Cecil?" Yang looked earnest.****

"Yes," the Paladin nodded, his smile disappearing, "I fear that our mission has not been very successful..."

"Dawn has some interesting things to tell you as well," Rosa informed him. "Let us go inside the castle and discuss things there."

**~*~**

"There's no sense in all of this," Cecil said after he had listened intently to Dawn's story as well as informing the others about their experiencesin the Serpent Sanctuary, only leaving out a detailed description of his problems with Jonas from his report. 

"Why didn't the Knight take the crystal shard with him right away instead of waiting for us?  And then all this effort to drain the stone of its power in order to destroy it...  Why would someone do this?  If it's might the group wants, wouldn't they be better off by using the crystal instead of destroying it?  After all, it contained enough power to run the Serpent Way… And why did they send monsters through the Way?  That wasn't necessary from an objective point of view, if they just wanted to destroy the shard..."

"This guy was as mysterious as Kieran..." Edge murmured. "I mean, it nearly had looked back then like he had been waiting for us to show up in the tower of Bab-il to tell us about his plans to blow up Eblan.  And I still can't believe that Rydia was really necessary for his plans..." The green-haired caller nodded in agreement, sadly.

"Yes - both Kieran and this Dark knight told us that they would leave us alive as they wanted the world to show that all rulers of the Blue planet were defenseless against the threat the Dark Paladins pose," Cecil said pensively.

"And it seems to work already, judging from the troubles Rosa has had with the townspeople…" Cid added.

"So let's put together what we have," Golbez said.  He had not joined the others at the table, but was leaning against a wall with crossed arms.

"A Dark Paladin mage named Claudius on Mt. Ordeals tries to draw Kain on his side on Mt. Ordeals, then lures Cecil away from Baron, while the town gets attacked by monsters. Only some time later the wizard Kieran is able to gain the trust of us all and even nearly succeeds in using your summoner friend Rydia to help him to destroy Castle Eblana before the eyes of her friends. Now, a Knight of the group has stolen the crystal of the Serpent Way, thus making travel and communication between the two countries Mysidia and Baron impossible. And we should not forget that a mysterious power drew me, surely one of the most feared and hated men during the Blue Planet's younger history, onto the planet, which of course invokes mistrust in some people..." Golbez pushed himself from the wall and approached the table. 

"It seems that this 'Dark Paladin' group- whatever their plan is--is trying to infiltrate our ranks by trying to stir up mistrust in every one of us and also the population of your kingdoms..." he concluded with a shrug. "They're obviously trying to sever your ties of friendship to make your ranks weak enough for them to strike.  An old, but every effective method," he added with a bitter smile. "I should know--I'm a specialist in this, if you know what I mean…"

"Stop your jesting!" Kain snapped. "Though what you say makes sense.  But what about the monsters?"

"Maybe they were meant only as a decoy to distract our attention from something..." Cecil wondered, frowning slightly.

"Yes, maybe they wanted to buy time in order to construct their headquarter in Tororia!" Dawn looked at him. 

"That could be likely.  I mean, it's strange somehow that we never heard of such a group and now, all of a sudden, they're supposed to have already a headquarter everyone knows, just not us," Yang said."Maybe we spent too much time visiting all kinds of places and battling monsters instead of searching for the root of all this evil, which is befalling us right now..."****

"So our next stop would be a visit at this strange group with the boring name..." Edge concluded. "Hey Rydia, want to come with me?  I'll protect you--Ouch!  Why did you kick me?"

"What do you want to protect me from?" the caller teased. "From yourself?"

"I'd say that we should check things out there, too..." Dawn nodded.

"Yes, but let's not depart before tomorrow.  We should all take the time to rest and plan our next move," Cecil said, standing up. 

"I don't care for the part with the "plan", but the word "rest" sounds really good to me…   See you tomorrow, everyone!"  Edge yawned and shuffled out of the door.

Cecil noticed that he was feeling quite tired as well – the happenings in the Serpent Sanctuary had exhausted everyone both mentally as well as physically.

Before he left the room with Rosa, he made sure that he took his leave of Dawn. 

"Have a good night...  We'll talk more tomorrow…" he smiled towards the female Paladin.

"Yes..." For a moment the silver-haired woman seemed nearly shy.  "Again: Great to see you!"  She gave him a dazzling smile and left for the door, as well. Golbez looked after her with an amused smile on his lips and then shot Cecil a mysterious glance which irritated the young Paladin completely.

_"What is he trying to tell me?"_  The paladin shook his head as he left the meeting room together with his wife.

~*~

As they were alone in their room, Rosa caught Cecil by his arm and brought him to sit with her on the bed. "There was something else in this ruin, wasn't there, darling?" she asked worried while brushing carefully some strands of hair from off his forehead.  Cecil caught her hand and pressed it to his face, her touch soothing his nerves. 

"There had been some...disagreements between me and Jonas--you know, he's the boy who..."

"Yes...I know.  But I believe you did well from what I heard.  However, I'm speaking about something else.  Something more disturbing--also disturbing me…  The Black Knight there could have killed you easily, though you, Edge and Yang are excellent fighters..." Rosa folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head slightly. "I tried not to worry while you were away, but then I have to hear that you nearly got killed…"

"But I'm here…" Cecil pulled her gently into an embrace, although his expression was worried as well. "You're right, though. There was something disturbing about this warrior. He was not only powerful, but he was using the same techniques I used as a Dark Knight.  And then there was this strange aura about him...  It was not really hostile, but...familiar somehow..." He shook his head. 

Rosa leaned against his shoulder with closed eyes, just enjoying the warmth and the familiar touch of her husband before she spoke again. 

"It makes me afraid.  That nothing has really happened in contrast to the war against Golbez and Zeromus.  I mean, no one is trying to take over the kingdom, there is no Giant of Babil destroying the landscape...  The only thing the Dark Paladins achieved so far were some quarrels in our group and some monster attacks--next to that, they only spoke out threats.  Though it feels so strange... As if something terrible is happening and we do not even notice it…"****

"Yes, you're right.  My worst fear would be that this terrible thing you spoke of has already happened and we didn't notice it because we were too fond of ourselves.  Maybe we celebrated our victory over Zeromus too much and didn't watch for signs of a possible new danger like the Dark Paladins.  It makes me nervous as well," Cecil said, stroking her hair. "_I wonder if we could have reacted sooner on this group if we just had taken better care..."_

"Cecil," Rosa said suddenly and raised her head from his shoulder, looking him inthe eyes.  "I want to come with you to Tororia.  Not only because I worry for your safety, but because I want to see with my own eyes if my fears are justified..."

To her surprise, Cecil agreed without hesitation. "All right…  I would have asked you anyway, to tell you the truth." 

As he saw the confused look of his wife, he explained, slightly grinning: "Golbez will probably join us and you know that we don't get along well.  I might need someone to prevent the worst catastrophes from evolving and..." he continued, very serious all of a sudden, "and I'd rather have you at my side.  Though I don't know what dangers will await us, just leaving you behind doesn't make things better, you know.  During the voyage to the Sanctuary I so often missed you and wished I could talk to you…" 

"Yes, I missed you too...  It's the bad side of love as Golbez just explained lately..." Rosa smiled.

Cecil did not react on her remark, as his mind wasalready occupied with something else-he wanted to make certain things cleared with Rosa once and for all.  He took a deep breath: "Dawn will be coming with us as well, but..."

"Cecil!"  Rosa interrupted him.  "You really don't have to explain anything to me…  Dawn is a friend of mine as well as she is a friend of yours…  Though you sometimes act as if you'd have something to hide..." She tried to sound as reproachful as possible, but could not hide a smile.  "I just know that I can trust you--I've observed you well enough during the last days.  There's nothing you could do or say to convince me that there is or ever was more between you two aside from friendship.  And now I want to hear nothing more about his matter! You can worry about it as much as you want --  I may not be able to prevent it, but please never doubt again my trust in you...and my love towards you..." 

Cecil had listened to her intently all the time and now looked at her with a mixture of wonder, but also utter affection in his features.  Rosa's words and her trust in him seemed to put a layer of peacefulness over his troubled mind, which was constantly occupied with dealing with the problems of late where everyone seemed to mistrust the other at one point or the other.  Cecil could not remember when he had felt so happy and at ease the last time; as with all that was bothering him, it had seemed nearly impossible to find peace of mind.  He felt confidence surging up in him--even his dark past seemed conquerable all of a sudden and he decided to tell his wife the one thing he had hidden from her concerning his experiences on Mt. Ordeals--a mental betrayal against her as he had met Dawn.

"I love you, too Rosa.  Don't ever doubt this for one minute.  I don't know how _I could doubt this back on the mountain for just one minute..." he whispered, laying his soul bare to her with his last confession, though it did not seem to disturb his wife at all – Rosa only nodded slightly, as if to show him that things were alright.  _

Driven by her trust, Cecil continued: "Whatever happens in the future, whatever my own dark past will demand of me--there's no need to fear as long as we're together..." The paladin knew that his words were only a shallow, insufficient way to express what he really felt, still there was one more thing he wanted to tell Rosa: 

"I'll never leave you…" he whispered and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I know. Though it sounds so naive, I believe you..." Rosa replied, kissing him in return, then she suddenly put** her head to one side and looked at him. **

"You know--sharing one's life with a loved person also means carrying a lot of responsibility and facing many worries--especially when sharing one's life with someone like _you..." she paused for a moment, seeing that Cecil was slightly frowning. Before he could say anything, Rosa had laid a finger on his lips, grinning mischievously._

"But… maybe this weight is the sweetest one you can have to bear…" she whispered, before she embraced her husband, kissing him passionately.

~*~

"Kain!"  Diane shouted after Kain, as he was about to wander over the dark courtyard to his room.

"Diane!  What are you still doing here at such an hour?  I thought you went home with your father right away.  The whole castle is already sleeping."  Kain turned around, surprised.

"I know..." Diane huffed, "and I can't stay long, but I just wanted to know if you were going tomorrow."

"Yes.  Cecil might need my help..." Kain told her. "You seem to be worried about that.  I thought that you wouldn't min--"

"Yes, yes, I know that I said that I wouldn't mind," Diane interrupted him, "I just wanted to tell you to be careful.  After all, you're trying to infiltrate the headquarters of this group and this doesn't sound like an easy task at all...  I was suddenly having a bad feeling...so..." she sighed, as if being annoyed by her lack of words.  "Just be careful."

"Yes, sure…  You really don't have to worry about me!"  Kain laughed loudly as if he was trying to loosen the embarrassed atmosphere between him and Diane.

"I can't promise that." Diane smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Sorry if I scared you!  Maybe I'll see you off tomorrow if father lets me." She turned around; too quickly for Kain's taste and wanted to walk away, but as she felt her lover's gaze on her, waited for some seconds longer. 

"Diane, if you don't want me to go..." Kain said slowly.

Diane turned around once more, "Really--it's all right!"  She told him and her words sounded serious.  "That's what you get for falling in love with a fighter.  I knew this before, but I am allowed to tell you to be careful, aren't I?"  She winked and then left for her home.

Kain gazed after her, puzzled. _"What's the matter with me?"_  Diane had said nothing unusual to him, in fact she had acted more understandingly than he had hoped for and still he felt bad. _"Take care..."_ she had said.  The thought of her worrying for him made him uneasy, though he did not know why.  He had seen Rosa and Cecil saying goodbye to each other before a mission in this fashion more than often enough and they never seemed to feel taken aback by the other one saying to be careful.  It was only natural that friends and, even more so, lovers cared, as well as he now was always worrying about Diane.  So why did her words not please him at all, but disturbed him? 

Having such unpleasant thoughts, Kain did not feel tired any more. Thus, he decided to go to the tavern.


	8. Chapter 7: The inside of the soul

**7.**

_The inside of the soul_

The next morning, the friends assembled in Baron's hall. "Did you have a bad night?" an unusually cheerful Cecil asked Kain, who looked rather bad-tempered.

"Yep..." his friend grunted. "I went to the tavern because I couldn't sleep and guess what? The barkeep didn't want to serve me, babbling something about us being the cause for the misfortune in town and keeping a fiend in our midst..."

"Are you talking about me?" Golbez, who had overheard their conversation, asked amused.

"It's not said that the townspeople were referring to you..." Cecil tried to intervene, but the skeptical look on his brother's face only confirmed his own fear. It was of course Golbez, whom the townspeople feared. _"I neglected my duties as a king in not telling them right away that Golbez has returned, but I didn't think that rumours would spread around that fast." _Cecil thought grimly and thus proposed, "When we return from Tororia, I'll hold a public speech, explaining everything to Baron's citizens about the happenings of late and about the Dark Paladins."

Golbez raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that they will believe you? Will they trust you more than they trust the rumours in the streets?"

"I don't know, but I'll try to earn their trust in any way possible. And for that it's necessary to investigate the Dark Paladin headquarter in Tororia. We need to show the people evidence that we can put a stop to the evil doings of this group.  It's not enough to just promise them that everything is under control." Cecil frowned. "The public feeling in town worries me."  _"Do the people not trust us because I'm a bad king?"  _He was pulled out of his thoughts by Yang who was now approaching him.

"The mood of our citizens worries me as well, friend…" the Karate Master started to speak, "I fear that I have bad news.  This morning I went to the harbour outside of town, since I had heard news that a merchant vessel from Fabul had arrived. The sailors told me that atmosphere in Fabul is becoming more and more tense -- people speak of another upcoming war and that the happenings of late were the doing of the new general in Baron.."

"General?" Cecil looked puzzled

"Oh.  It seems my rank has improved…" Golbez grinned.

"Yes, I fear in fact that they are referring to you, Master Golbez," Yang said gravely. "I do not know how they could have known of your return to the planet, but I do believe that it would be a good idea for me to check things in Fabul -- and if it is to calm the citizens. I'm a fighter like they are, so they should trust me. We may need every hand we can get if the worst happens, so I'd like to return there and meet you later on in Tororia."

"Alright…" Cecil nodded, though he had hoped for the support of the older man during the whole mission. "Good luck to you, Yang. Take care!" 

"Goodbye, Yang!" Rydia sounded rather sad and then turned to Edge. "Don't you want to check you kingdom, as well?" 

Edge laughed. "Nah!  Old Chamberlain is doing good work there.  Besides my people know that I would never do anything that would harm them.  If _I'm _trusting Gobs here," he smirked at the wizard, "_they_ will, too."

It seemed that Golbez wanted to react on Edge's comment, but for some reason decided otherwise and just raised the compulsory eyebrow**.**

_"I wish I could be as optimistic as Edge or Yang. 'I'm one of them...' Yang had said. I'm not hailing from a royal family either, still the people do not seem to trust me in this hour."_ Cecil's mind became clouded by doubts again, but he reminded himself quickly that there was no time for this right now.

"So, is everyone here? Kain, are you coming with us?" he asked.  

"Yes," the dragoon answered, but gave Diane a worried look. 

The red-haired girl noticed his uneasiness and squeezed his hand. "It's okay. Just take care," she told him again.

"Will you stop worrying about me!" Kain teased, though his tone was serious. He embraced her. "I couldn't stand to know that you are you unhappy."

"Kain..." Diane tried to smile. "Then I'll try not to worry," she said as bravely as she could manage.

"Yes, that's the spirit!"  Kain grinned, though he knew that she was lying. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Rosa and Cecil talking to each other like they always did, the two of them even joking, though Cecil possibly had a lot on his mind. Once again, he wondered how Cecil and Rosa had coped with getting separated again and again during the years.

"Didn't your mother wanted to see us off?" Cecil asked.

"I didn't tell her that I was leaving." Rosa shrugged with her shoulders.

"You didn't tell her?" Cecil could not believe his ears - Rosa normally did not conceal such things from her mother.

"What should I have told her?" Rosa asked. She felt a bit pained by Cecil's astonishment although she was aware that her husband just knew her too well to be _not surprised about her behaviour. "If I had told mother that we're going to Tororia to investigate the headquarter of the Dark Paladins, she surely would tell it to everyone in town. And I couldn't lie to her--she knows when I'm lying...she always did.  Even when I followed you back then to Mist, so I just didn't tell her anything at all," she explained, although it was obvious that Rosa was not happy with the decision she had made._

 Cecil sensed this. "I'm sorry that you had to act this way..."

"You're sorry for my own person, but certainly not that she isn't here right now, am I right?" Rosa asked not without a hint of reproach in her voice.

"Well... I'm sure she would have told me that the strenuous atmosphere in town was my fault and that it was irresponsible to leave Baron in such a situation," Cecil admitted. "Although I wonder myself if it is right to leave Baron right now." 

Rosa shook her head. "Don't worry.  Cid will take care of kingdom while we're away. Besides you say that the rumours in town might not change to the better while we're away?"

Rosa's imperturbable nature made Cecil smile. "You're right.  Right now we should worry about Tororia and not about Baron and finally board the airship." 

**~*~**

The flight to Tororia was an uneventful one, although Cecil was still worried about the growing mistrust in the citizens of Baron. _"Maybe I should have told them  about Golbez right from the start..._" Due to his constant brooding his head now hurt for quite some time now and the Paladin finally decided to rest in his cabin for some minutes, giving the steer over to Edge. "But no joking around!" he warned his friend, half seriously, half jokingly. 

"Righto, boss!" Edge shouted. "Hey Rydia! Come over here and I'll show you how the King of the sky flies!" 

Sighing, the caller followed his invitation. As she passed Cecil, he shot her an encouraging glance, which she returned gratefully.  Lately, Cecil had not spent as much time with his friend as he had wanted, although the Paladin knew very well that the girl needed her friends even more than before after her experiences with Kieran and the buried entrance to the Underworld. 

_"So many problems and I don't even know right now how to solve one of them,"_ Cecil thought. Lately, it became more and more difficult for the Paladin to decide which step he should take next. _"Maybe I'm slowly loosing the ability to set preferences?"_ he frowned, as he was about to descend the stairs. Suddenly, he spotted Golbez, who was standing at the railing and watching Dawn, who was talking with Rosa intently. 

To Cecil's surprise, his brother was not showing an amused or mocking expression as usual, but looked rather earnestly and pensively as he stood there, his eyes gazing calmly at Dawn, his long black hair flying in the wind. Once more, Cecil realized how lonely his brother looked. _"I wish there was a way to drive his loneliness away..." he thought, although he knew that this was not easily possible, for Golbez's loneliness was one he had chosen himself, even an accepted one. However, what worried Cecil more was the way Golbez looked right now - it seemed nearly sad. _"Could this have to do with Dawn?"_ The Paladin approached his brother slowly and leaned onto the railing in the same fashion as his brother did, watching the female Paladin as well. _

"She's very beautiful," he mentioned rather casually, interested in his brother's reaction. Golbez nodded, not surprised by his the Paladin's voice next to him. Cecil had already figured out that it was impossible to surprise Golbez; the wizard's senses were even more superior in this respect than his own ones. 

"She looks like she's not of this world," the black haired man said. 

"I often think so, too." Cecil agreed.  In fact even now as the female Paladin was talking with Rosa, cheerfully, her beauty was so great that it nearly seemed unnatural; her silvery hair glistened in the wind and her appearance seemed to be as bright and not ascertainable as the white clouds in the sky around them. As he looked sideways, he saw that a strange smile had crept on his brother's lips. _"She looks like she's not from this world.."_ Golbez had said and suddenly, he remembered the night in Agart where Golbez had stood on the beach.  

Back then he had looked nearly menacing and his air had been as overwhelming but also frighteningly gloomy and cold like the dark sea before him. _"I do not belong here,"_ Golbez had told Cecil that night. "_Both Dawn and Golbez sometimes seem to belong to somewhere else, though this 'somewhere' might not even be an existent place.  Is it this that fascinates Golbez with Dawn? On the other hand the two have completely different natures--there's no other connection I could see between my brother and her..." Cecil frowned._

"Worried by something, Cecil?" Golbez asked suddenly. "So how was your trip to Mysidia, really?" 

Normally, as Cecil knew that Golbez's questions were always dangerous, he would have tried to prevent answering, but his brother was sounding surprisingly friendly, so Cecil decided to give him a chance.

"You were right, there _are_ still a lot of people mistrusting me," the Paladin said, "although there's always hope that things might turn out right in the end..." he added, although he wasn't so sure about these things in Jonas' case, of what he kept silent about, of course. 

"So… Hope…" Golbez smiled. "Is it hope, too, which makes you believe that the investigation and possible destruction of the Dark Paladin group will calm Baron's citizens?"

Cecil reflected. "At least it might show them that not you, but other persons were responsible for the happenings of late. Besides when we get back I'll also explain everything to my people."

"Everything? That you found your long lost brother, who once nearly destroyed the whole planet, wandering in the midst of the woods, that you took him into the castle and didn't tell anyone about it because you didn't want to cause any panic?" Golbez interrupted him.

"Err..." Cecil smiled sheepishly-- the absurdity Golbez had wanted to show him, became very clear to him. "Not exactly this way, but what you just said is the truth after all…"

"The truth?" Golbez turned around suddenly, to look him directly in the face, his expression once again mocking, his tone of voice nearly disparaging. "The truth? The truth is that I'm the cause of all this trouble! You should have understood this by now and should have planned your actions concerning that…"

"So what do you want me to do?" The smile left Cecil's face. "Throw you into the dungeon? Execute you? Ban you to some island?"

"Unless I cannot return to the moon this would all three be interesting possibilities..." Golbez replied. "The question is whether you have enough courage to carry out any of these ideas--"

"Golbez!  Stop saying such things!  You're my brother and I knew very well the risk of taking you in with me, but there was no other option.  Besides I wanted to take you with us." He sighed. "Don't you care at all?"

"Cecil..." Golbez's voice sounded more soft now. "In fact I do care… But it is amazing how Baron has prospered under your reign so far, and now I have to see that you're neglecting your duties as a King as you prefer your own familiar interests to the greater good..."

"I'm not doing this only in my interest, but in yours, too.  Besides I cannot believe that sacrificing a person I care for will do any good for a 'greater good', as you call it.  But if you're so interested in leaving us, I wonder why you're still here. You were always free to go!" Cecil snapped--once again, Golbez had succeeded in upsetting him and letting him say things he did not mean.

"I do appreciate your "generosity", Cecil, but you shouldn't concern yourself with my interests. My words were only a warning. I'll leave when the time comes.  However, right now it seems that you could need my help…" His eyes darkened, and he watched the horizon. "For some reason I'm not interested in this world sinking into chaos again, either.  Call it repentance; an impossible try to make up for the unforgivable things I did…" Golbez laughed more bitter than ever.  "Or do you want me to leave?" He looked at Cecil, who was watching him with pressed lips; his gaze filled with incomprehension. 

"Why are you saying such things?  How can you ask me if I want you to stay after all the times I've told you what I want?  Are you mocking me?  You're always turning and twisting my words until they are the way you want them to be heard." Cecil's voice sounded desperate."Sometimes you nearly remind me of Claudius and Kieran--you're also manipulating people into believing things; making them say things they don't want to say and do things they don't want to do."

Golbez nodded, nearly approvingly. "Did you forget?  Manipulating is a gift of mine as well…  I told you to stay away from me…  It's only for your own good."

"Am I disrupting anything?" Dawn's cheerful voice interrupted the brothers.

Golbez gave his brother a strange smile. "I only want to protect you, Cecil…  And here comes another person who cares quite a lot for you."  He turned around and bowed slightly towards Dawn.  "I was just leaving. My communicative abilities seem not to be at their height today…  I seem to spoil the general atmosphere of hope…" Still smiling, he wandered off.

"I can't believe it...  He did it again!" Cecil shook his head in defeat and leaned against the railing, tired. "Every time I think that he would open up: Bang!  He traps me - even manipulates me into hating him, although I don't want it..." He sighed and gave Dawn a weak smile. "I'm sorry. You must be disappointed that I'm showing so little self-control, again."

Dawn laughed and laid an arm around his shoulder in a way dear friends behave. "Not at all.  It's amazing that you're still not giving up trying to make him come out of his shell."

"Seems you're the only one thinking so...  Every one else gets better along with him than I do."

"But he's not the brother of everyone else.  And everyone else's name is not Cecil…" Dawn smiled.

"Dawn, do you think that I'm too pressing?  That I want a brother I can never have?" Cecil asked her, her presence calming him.

Dawn became more earnest. "That is only a thing you can decide for yourself…" She reflected for a moment and suddenly seemed to look into some sphere only she could see. "I can feel that you're expecting something from me… That you want to know what I think about Golbez.."

"Well... after all you can see in the souls of others…"

"And I've tried it this time as well...but..."

"But?" Cecil asked.

"I could see nothing… His self-loath is so great.  He has buried his feelings so deep inside of him and hides his heart from the world so much that I cannot see the core of his soul..."

"But why?  He can't ever find peace of mind or forgiveness for his doings in such a state of mind..."

"In fact he can't.  But it seems to be his own special way to deal with his past and with his guilt, although it doesn't work the way he wants it to,"  Dawn explained. "Golbez cannot cope with the pain in his heart, neither with the guilt for his past deeds nor with the far heavier guilt he put on himself, but knows that he has to live with it--yes, he even seems to seek the unhappiness his guilt causes him.  It may be some kind of atonement for him, some way to punish himself for the things he has done.  It is such a wrong thing to do, but he sees no other escape, no other possibility to help loosen the conflict in his soul."

Cecil had listened to her intently. "It's hard to follow you, but maybe I do understand…"

"I'm sure you do, deep in your heart…" Dawn smiled. "Due to your own dark past, sometimes you might have been on the verge of a similar conflict as well.  Only that you never lost hope…"

Cecil frowned. "Hope, eh?  So all I can do is hope for him? That doesn't sound right."

"Right now _I hope that you get Edge away from the steering wheel, darling!" Rosa's had crept up to them unnoticed. _

As she saw Cecil's startled expression, she told Dawn, laughing, "Every time he's thinking of his brother an army could march up behind him and he wouldn't notice it.."

Suddenly, the ship rocked dangerously. "Edge! Are you mad?" Rydia's scream could be heard.

"See?" Rosa said, "if you have any interest in bringing this ship back to Cid undamaged, you'd better take your post at the steer again, darling! So hurry up!" With a wink she hurried over to Rydia to ask if the girl was alright. 

Cecil had to smile. "It's amazing how she copes with all this so much better than me..."

"That's because she's content, Cecil.  She is able to grasp, to understand the things around here--and she has everything she craves for…  Family, friends...and you.  Although every living being is--when it comes to the point--alone, Rosa has understood that she's in the lucky position to come as near to not being alone as one possibly can." Dawn said, in a quiet, almost sad voice. 

"Dawn... You're not alone as well!" Cecil said and carefully placed a kiss on her cheek, not in the fashion lovers, but as friends do.  The ship rocked again and Edge started mutteringsome curses. 

"Guess I better go to prevent the worst from happening!" Cecil grinned. "Thank you Dawn. For not being able to read Golbez's soul you still knew a lot about him." He turned around and hurried towards the steer. "Edge! What did I tell you about not joking around?"

Dawn looked after him, touching her cheek where he had kissed her. "You don't need to look into someone's soul if things are too obvious..."


	9. Chapter 8: Of men and chocobos

**8.**

_Of men and chocobos_

Without Edge at the steer, the airship landed safely near Tororia a few hours later.

"I think we should split up," Cecil proposed, "one part of the group should try to gather information in town, while the others check the nearest surroundings. You said the headquarter was not far away from the town, right, Dawn?"

The young woman nodded. "Yes. Although even if we just roughly know where the headquarter is supposed to be, splitting up is still a good idea. And if it is to see if everything's alright in town." 

"So - who is going where?  I'd rather like to search the surroundings.  I'm not much for visiting the town..." Kain murmured.

"The reason for this couldn't be that Tororia is full of beautiful women and would remind you of a certain someone you left in Baron?" Rosa teased him, earning a sour look from Kain in return.  

"Anyway, _we _are not gloomy, right Rydia?" Rosa grinned. "We are volunteering for the trip into town!"

"Yes!" Rosa's sudden cheerfulness brought a smile to Rydia's lips. "Tororia is really beautiful from what I remember...  A visit might be a nice change once in a while." 

"Do you want to go as well, Dawn? After all, it's your hometown..." Cecil asked.  

Dawn smiled sheepishly. "Well, to tell you the truth, that's the reason why I don't want to go...  I'm not having the best memories concerning Tororia and, besides, we're here to investigate. Me appearing in town would only cause a lot of unwanted commotion, I believe."

Although it sounded strange to Cecil that Dawn had no interest to visit her hometown, her words made sense. "Very well... "

"I'm not goingas well," Golbez remarked, "unless the citizens have a change of mind and welcome me as a friend all of a sudden because they finally recognized my good side..." He grinned in Cecil's direction, who luckily did not notice it.

"Then I'm gonna protect the ladies!" Edge volunteered. Rydia and Rosa exchanged glances but said nothing. 

"Very well Edge.  But remember: we're here to work and not to examine all taverns!"  The young caller finally teased.

"But that's the best place to gather information!" The ninja smirked.

Rosa laughed - if Edge was around, things would surely not get boring. "Alright -- I think the three of us are enough. Perhaps we should start with the castle..."

Cecil agreed, although secretly he was not too happy about the combination of his group. Being with Dawn pleased him and Kain was no problem either, but Kain and Golbez were an explosive mixture, as well as Cecil himself and his brother.

_"At least Rosa and Rydia have chosen the safer route - what could possibly happen to them in town? Besides, they will take good care of Edge," _the Paladin tried to think optimistically while he said goodbye to the other group. Rosa, Rydia and Edge took their leave in good spirits; obviously, the three were looking forward to seeing the beauties of Tororia once again. 

"So..." Kain put his hands in his pockets, not wearing, like Cecil, any armour, but a light traveling garb. "Do you still know your way around here, Dawn?"

The young woman shrugged. "I hope so... I'll try to lead the way. Follow me!" 

The group ventured into the deep woods around Tororia.

~*~

"Tororia is still as lovely as I remembered..." Rosa said as they set foot into the white marble paneled halls of Tororia castle. With its great halls, sparkling ponds and lush gardens, the castle had the reputation to be one of the most beautiful buildings on the whole planet.  In fact, it was difficult not to stand in awe before its beauty.  

"Queen Rosa, King Edge and Rydia of Mist!" The female guards at the door before the inner chambers bowed upon seeing them. 

"Greetings..." Rosa smiled in return. "I know that we have no appointment, but would it be possible to speak with the clerics of Tororia?"

"We fear that most of the sisters are not in the castle right now, but the head sister, Eustacia, might be in the great hall." The guards stepped aside and opened the great doors. "Are you familiar with the way, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, thank you..." 

Rydia pulled at Edge's sleeve. "Come on Edge - stop staring at the uniform of the ladies!" She sighed, knowing that the sparse clothing of the guards resembled more the dress of a dancer than a uniform.

Edge grinned. "Jealous, Rydia? You know that even these ladies cannot compare with your beau-"

"Whatever..." Rydia blushed slightly. "I was only worried that your eyes would fall out and you might need them later..."

As the three friends entered the great hall, Sister Eustacia approached them, smiling. She was an elderly woman with a benevolent, but also unworldly expression and was clad in a plain high-necked blue dress; her only jewellery was that ofa necklace of black stones. "Queen Rosa, young King Edge and Rydia of Mist..." she curtseyed, although her own status as the head of Tororia was not lesserthan the ones of her visitors. "What a pleasure to see you again! But you're look so worried...  Is it about Agart?"

"But haven't you heard..." Rosa wanted to ask at first, but then reminded herself that neither the incidents on Mt. Ordeals, nor Kieran's attempt to destroy Eblan, were probably known to the sister. Although she was sure that Cecil had sent a letter...

Eustacia seemed to read her thoughts. "Oh, forgive me -- Baron has had to endure terrible things in the past, as well as Mysidia and fair Eblana from what I heard..." She shook her head. "It seems that no matter how peaceful times seem to be, there are always evil people trying to go against the law... Although mostly these people are only harmless, lost souls, don't you think so, Queen Rosa?"

"Err... Yes, of course..." Rosa tried to smile but inwardly had to sigh - it was a well known fact that the sisters of Tororia were a bit naive sometimes. The safe, but also isolated location of Tororia near the woods granted the country - with exception of the Crystal War - usually a peaceful life apart from most problems. The strong army which Tororia had built up was used mainly for defending the town, but in fact they were hardly needed at all. Still, it sounded strange to Rosa that Eustacia brushed aside the happenings of late as a nuisance, committed by some 'harmless' criminals.   

"Sister Eustacia, we fear that these incidents might not be as harmless as you presume: We have reason to believe that they are just part of a larger scheme."

"A scheme which might have to do with a group called the Dark Paladins, who are supposed to have erected their headquarters in Tororia," Rydia joined in the conversation.

"Dark Paladins? Your husband, Queen Rosa, wrote in his letter about them, as well, but I can assure that there's no such group in our fair Tororia." Eustacia frowned. 

"Maybe they did not inform you of their plans and moved into their headquarter in secret?" Rosa wondered.

"If that would have been the case I believe that the people in our wonderful town would have noticed and of course told it to us!" Eustacia smiled, though added rather sheepishly: "On the other hand, I have not often been in touch with our citizens lately, so I might of course have missed certain things..." 

"That is _very_ likely..." Edge mumbled under his breath.

"Maybe the town would be a better place to inquire about such things..." Eustacia proposed, suddenly seeming to be in a hurry. "Though I'll ask my sisters as well if they've seen something... For now I fear you'll have to excuse me. There's work to be done!" She curtseyed slightly and left the hall through a door at the end of the room.

"So ladies, seems it's the tavern after all!" Edge grinned triumphantly.

"Yes... But _we_ lead on! Right, Rosa?" Rydia laughed and took Edge's arm; the beauty of Tororia had obviously lightened her spirits. Rosa nodded and slowly followed her friends, pondering whether Eustacia really was as ignorant as she seemed...

**~*~**

"There once wasan old building near here.  It was used as a training ground for the fighters of Tororia," Dawn explained, while the group wandered through the forest outside of Tororia.

"Did you train there, too, Dawn?" Kain asked.

"Yes -- although that was quite some years ago.  I left Tororia as I was 16..." Dawn replied, although it was clear that she did not like the subject much, thus Kain decided to let things rest for the moment, no matter how much he had liked to learn more about her past. 

"So..." Dawn bit her lower lip. "If I could just remember whether it was the left or right path..."

"Should we split up, once more?" Cecil proposed.

"Right now we should better hide..." Golbez said in a low voice. "There are people coming this way!"  Indeed voices were coming out of the direction the group had come from.

"Alright, there are bushes!" Cecil motioned the others to follow and they squatted down behind the greenery.

A couple came down the way and headed for the left path.

"They looklike normal citizens of Tororia..." Dawn wondered "What could they want in the woods?"

"We'll never know until we follow them!" Kain suggested and began to pursue the two people through the undergrowth.

"Maybe they'll lead us to the training grounds..." Cecil shrugged and followed the Dragoon as well as Dawn and Golbez. After a short while they reached a clearing with an impressive white building, which was enclosed by pillars in the middle. 

"That's in fact the old training ground..." Dawn said quietly. "It's still as beautiful as before..."

"I doubt, though, that these people are entering it for the purpose of training..." Golbez motioned towards the entrance of the building, which was guarded by two sturdy looking knights in black armour. 

"If their name is also their motto, I guess that we have found the 'Dark Paladin' hideout we were looking for..." the wizard remarked dryly.

Just now the couple from before was approaching the guards and entered the building after a short talk with the men. 

"So how do we get in? The front door seems to be the only entrance..." Cecil wondered. He looked at his and the clothes of the others. "And we don't look exactly like citizens as well..." Despite their light travel garb, Kain's muscles which showed under his shirt confirmed only too well that he was an experienced fighter and Dawn's unnatural beauty, Cecil's colour of hair and Golbez's whole stature and haughty features were not very inconspicuous, as well.  

"Hey, look there!  Maybe we're lucky after all!" Kain motioned towards a cart which was standing a bit aside of the building; obviously it was owned by a merchant who had not wanted to come here by foot.  

"It looks loaded.  Maybe there's something we can use..." He already wanted to make a dash for it, but Cecil held him back and pressed some coins into his hand. 

"No stealing, Kain..."

"Sometimes you can be such a bore, my friend!" Kain grinned, flipping one of the coins in his hand.  He then started to crawl towards the wagon, his friends checking that no one was watching the blond man. 

Kain disappeared unnoticed behind the cart and after a while came back, something grey under his arm. "Look what I found! Some woolen covers!"

Cecil sniffed at them and pulled a face. "Ugh... They smell like chocobos slept on them..." 

Dawn had to suppress a laugh. "So it's settled then - we're chocobo farmers! After all, Tororia is famous for them, so we can't possibly attract too much attention if we wear th**e**se."

"Alright, it's now or never..." Cecil sighed. Trying to ignore the stench, the four companions wrapped the covers around them, pulling part of the fabric deep into their faces. Emerging from their hiding place, they approached the guards. 

Before them, just another group had arrived: an elderly woman and a young man. "Lets see how they behave..." Dawn whispered to their companions.

"Good day to you! We heard that the great Mallack is gracing us with his presence here, today," the young man greeted the guard.

"Mallack... That's the name the black knight at the shrine mentioned..." Cecil became agitated. 

"Shh... We should listen..." Kain interrupted him.

"You're right.  If you're looking for a safe haven in these troubled times, you're welcome to enter. Are you citizens of Tororia?" the guard was just asking the two people before him.

"Yes.  I've been living here all my life," the old woman replied. "In Tororia there's never been war until two years ago and that only happened because of that crystal!  Now I even heard that some of the clerics were thinking of building an airship, as if there soon would be war, again!"  She shook her head. "All this technique will bring us is into an early grave, so as we heard that your group was interested in upholding the old ways and traditions, we --" 

"That's enough, mother," the young man interrupted her.

"No, it's alright," one guard said friendly. "Your mother is a wise woman. Come on through..." He and his companion stepped aside and let the two through.

"They think that the crystals were the only cause of the war?" Cecil frowned.

"Lets worry about that later... Come on.  If one just needs to complain about the crystals to get into the building, it should be a piece of cake," Kain whispered. They approached the guards.   

"Halt!" One of the black knights stopped them, studying the group suspiciously. Despite the woolen capes, Golbez's tall stature was still impressive.

"We're chocobo breeders from Tororia," Dawn introduced them.

"Oh, nothing's as lovely as the smell of a chocobo!" one guard exclaimed. "What a great animal; a much better, safer and more traditional way of transportation than these cursed airships!"

"You're right with that!" Kain agreed smiling. "We heard that Mallack thinks so, too, so we..."

"You did?  I never heard him making a speech about chocobos, although he should, maybe.."  One guard took a step forward and tried to get a better look at Kain's face.

Cecil stepped in his way. "What my friend wanted to say is that the old times and traditional ways are much better then many things nowadays: in the old times, as no Lunarians and crystals existed, a man had just to follow his own way.." 

"Yes, it was just a man and his chocobo so to say..." Kain added.

Trying to suppress a grin, Cecil continued, "but look what happened: some Lunarians came onto the planet, bringing with them the crystals--"

"--which are only causing war and deciding the fate of innocent people," Golbez concluded his sentence, darkly.

The guards stared at them, amazed. "Why, you are so right! You talk like Mallack! Maybe you should ask him if you could help him? We can always use such people as yourselves!  Please come on through!" They opened the door.

"Thanks, we'll ask him," Dawn told them.

"Hey Cecil, that was great!  How did you know what they wanted to hear?" Kain whispered as they entered the building.

"Just ended the thought of the old lady..." Cecil shrugged.

"I must say that I'm quite impressed... To speak about your own people in such a fashion..." Golbez remarked.

"There was no other way. Besides they're _your_ people as well... But I presume that in contrast to me, you actually did _mean _what you told the guards, right?  I'm talking about the part about the crystals and Lunarians deciding the fate of others?" Cecil asked him dryly. 

Golbez shot him a short glance. "You know what I think of our father and the way you became Paladin..."

Cecil nodded. "Yes... I know..." He was aware that Golbez was of the opinion that their father, Klu Ya, had egoistically 'used' Cecil to right the wrong he had committed by letting his other son fall into the hands of Zeromus.

"Hey you two," Dawn whispered. "Please save these discussions for later, yes? We don't want to drive too much attention to us."

The group followed some other persons into a warm lit hall, where a crowd of about thirty people had already gathered. As Cecil looked around in the room, he spotted black clad guards lining the walls. _"What or whom do they guard? Surely not Mallack alone..."_

The crowd fell silent as a tall and very tough looking man with short clipped blond hair stepped onto a stage at the end of the room. Suddenly, Cecil sensed a familiar feeling and only a few moments later, his fears were getting confirmed: with his impressive two-handed sword in both hands, the black knight they had met at the Shrine of the Serpent positioned himself behind the blond and placed the sword tip on the floor, guarding him.

"That's the knight from the Sanctuary in Mysidia," the Paladin informed his companions.

"He looks strong..." Kain studied the man.

The blond man on the stage started to speak, his strong voice echoing through the hall. "We're sorry to tell you that Mallack will not be able to talk to you, today..." A murmur went through the crowd. "He has to take care of other business," the man continued. "We have reason to believe that a group of strangers plans to infiltrate our quarter here."

The group around Cecil stiffened. _"How can they know of our presence?"_ Cecil wondered. 

"These strangers are a group which pretend to respect the freedom of man, but in reality they support the current ruler ship of people only interested in spreading foul Lunarian beliefs!"  The blond man shouted; the expression on the others' faces made Cecil's blood freeze. 

"But our present rulers helped to save the world from the destruction through Zeromus!" a man from the crowd argued.

"And how did that war start in the first place?"  The blond man thundered. "Zeromus was a Lunarian himself, like the dark wizard Golbez! The giant of Bab-il and the crystals were creations brought to our beautiful planet by Lunarians in order to force their way of life and their beliefs upon us. Their only objective is to control us!" 

Some people in the crowd started to whisper. "I heard that the leader during the Crystal War and current King of Baron is a Lunarian, too..."

The blond man nodded, sadly. "Yes. In fact King Cecil hails from the moon as well. He might have saved you all, but never forget that he once served the false King of Baron and was an instrument of evil. Who tells you that he saved your planet only for the benefit of the world? He became a Paladin, and as such he is a slave of the Lunarians, too.  He might act according to them.  Haven't you ever wondered why he hasn't stopped the research on airships upon becoming King?  We're living in times of peace, but remember that airships were used mainly for destruction and were the reason Baron became powerful enough to start a war!"

Cecil balled his fists; he could not believe how the man was twisting things. Dawn caught his arm, carefully and squeezed it. 

"But I thought that the Lunarians only visited the Blue Planet in order to help our ancestors..." another person in the crowd asked carefully.

"And how did that help them?" the man replied. "They constructed shrines and teleport devices only they understood fully, gave the people of the Blue Planet some crystals to power them--or to spy on them, as I believe--and then left on their cursed moon, again. And what did they do as Zeromus emerged from their midst?  They let people from the Blue Planet deal with the problem.  Of course these people were acting according to the Lunarian wishes.  After that, the moon disappears again.  There's peace for a while and suddenly Agart gets destroyed by an earthquake and the monsters are increasing again..." the voice of the man got louder. "Shall I show you why all these things are happening? You just need to take a look outside!" He pointed at a window high up, where a faint, round silhouette was outlined against the grey sky outside. 

"The Lunarian moon..." some people murmured. 

"Yes, the Lunarian moon has returned again!  What a strange coincidence, don't you think so, my dear friends?" the blond man closed his speech.

The murmurs of agreement were getting louder and louder and some people started to praise the Dark Paladins for opening their eyes. The blond man on the stage replied to the shouts with a triumphant smile on his face. Satisfied, he let his cold eyes wander over the cheering crowd.  As he got sight of the group clad in woolen capes, it seemed to Cecil like the man was resting his gaze just a moment longer on them.

"But don't fear!  We of the order of the Dark Paladins have decided to fight against any kind of oppression or manipulation by the Lunarian kind or their helpers.  Anyonewhobelieves that the time has come to create society anew is welcome to join!  If you have questions, or if you're interested in joining our group, please stand in a row near the table there."

On behalf of a nod by the speaker, the black knight disappeared behind a door on the back of the stage, only to return a bit later with some small object which he placed on a wooden table. Cecil shivered all of a sudden and he unintentionally took a step back, nearly tripping. His eyes were focused on the object, aghast; it radiated a dark power which was stronger than everything he had ever felt before.

As the crowd moved to the side of the stage, Cecil and his friends were able to take a better look at the strange object.  It was a black lump of stone in the size of a fist.

Obviously, some of the Tororian people were irritated by it as well, but the blond man just smiled and explained, pointing at it: 

"This might look like a normal stone to you, but it is a very powerful material, which is the symbol of our group. Our great leader Mallack discovered it--this stone possesses a power which is by far more powerful than the one of the crystal.  In the bowls of the earth it came into existence in ancient times through the powers of our Blue Planet!" 

Murmurs went through the crowd and the people started to assemble around the stone, curiously.  Some people even dared to touch it.

"Yes, don't hesitate to touch it!  It's completely safe." The blond man smiled. "So, is there anyone here who wants to support our organization?"

"Well... I guess I'd like to," A man in his forties, obviously a merchant stepped forward, rather shy. "Business hasn't been that good lately.  Sometimes I think that our rulers are more interested in the development of Lunarian inventions instead of caring for the problems of their people. The Tororian clerics didn't even listen to my complains..." 

"If he's the guy who the cart with the stinking covers belongs to, it's no wonder if he does not sell much..." Kain murmured.

"Very well.  So please come here and tell me your name!" Under the eyes of the blond man, who was watching him intently, but with goodwill, the merchant answered several questions. Finally, the Dark Paladin seemed to hand something to the new member, but Cecil and his friends could not see what, only the back of the merchant being turned to them. 

Now, the merchant turned around. "Down with the oppression through the Lunarians and their false moral which caused the last war!"  He shouted.  Suddenly his eyes had a mad glimmer in them, which made Cecil and his friends shudder. 

"Was he that aggressive before?" Kain wondered.

"Hey, you four!" A guard suddenly approached them. "The front guards told Sir Samon about you and he'd like to see you..." He pointed towards the blond man, who still was talking to the villagers.

"Yes... sure.." Cecil nodded, though it was clear to him that they needed to disappear as soon as possible, for Samon was surrounded by guards and the black knight.  If their disguise would be discovered, a fight would ensue which would not only bring trouble to them, but to innocent townspeople as well.

"We can't take the way we've come..." Kain whispered. "The guards will stop us... Dawn, is there any other way out of here?"

The young woman looked around. "There used to be a secret passage leading to town, if I remember correctly. It was supposed to be used in emergencies, when training troops needed to get to town as fast as possible. Lets take this passage there..."

As quiet as possible, the four crept towards the corridor. No one noticed them, as the eyes of the villagers and the guards were only aimed at Sir Samon... 


	10. Chapter 9: Life is a stage

**9.**

_Life is a stage_

The tavern in Tororia was rather crowded and hot; sticky air and loud chatter welcomed Rosa, Edge and Rydia as they entered the room.

"Lets ask the landlord for information and since we're in a tavern anyway, we can order some drinks as well... All this asking makes one thirsty!" Edge approached the counter.

"As if you have done much so far..." Rydia muttered, trying to stay as near to Rosa as possible: the young Queen seemed to feel uneasy, as well – both women were not used to the strange smell and the noise level of an establishment like this tavern. 

"Let's follow Edge and hope that we can leave this place as soon as possible..." The Queen sighed and took Rydia's hand protectively, pulling her along with her.

Edge had already found a free place at the counter and was trying to get the attention of the landlord. "Hey, you there! Do you know—"

The landlord, a sturdy bearded man who was just 'cleaning' a glass with a dirty piece of cloth, looked up.

"What will it be for ya, boy?"

"In fact I wanted some information..."

"No drink, no money, no information." The man resumed cleaning the glass, which looked dirtier the longer the man tried to clean it.

"Alright, that's a deal!" Edge grinned. "I'd like a beer..."

"For the lad a beer and what will it be for the ladies?" The landlord motioned towards Rosa and Rydia, who were standing behind Edge.

"The lady in green will take a wine...red..." Edge winked at Rydia. "So what will it be for you?" He looked at Rosa.

The Queen of Baron was looking rather pale – the bad air in the room had caused her a headache and a sore throat.

"Water..." she said.

Suddenly every customer of the tavern seemed to look at her.

"Did... did I say something wrong?" Rosa laughed nervously.

"Nah!"  The barkeep laughed and served their drinks, handing Rosa a glass of water. "With all the drunkards here, it's just seldom that someone orders water..." 

In fact, the patrons had already stopped staring at her and were occupied with their own matters, respectively glasses, again. 

"Oh..." Rosa smiled weakly and sipped at her water, while Edge emptied his beer rather quickly to the half.

"The blond lady here is the only responsible one out of all of usand abstains from alcohol!" Edge started to joke around, obviously hoping to break the ice between his group and the customers. "In the end she will be the one who has to drive the airshi—" He stopped as Rosa gave him a nudge. All patrons were looking at them, again.

"What does she have to drive?" the man sitting next to Edge asked. "Don't tell me that you are owning one of these damn airships..."

Before Edge could answer, Rosa did: "What? Oh no... I for one couldn't even enter such a thing. I'm much too afraid of heights..." She giggled nervously and then murmured towards Edge: "Come on." She pulled him from his seat and threw some coins onto he table with her free hand. 

"We should go.  I'd love to see the shown downstairs, yes?" she said, fixating her eyes onhim sternly.

"Let's do as Rosa says..." Rydia was urging Edge as well. 

"Yeah – I understood Rosa's hint..." Edge told her.

"Rosa?" The landlord scratched athis beard.  "So where have I heard that name before..."

"What?! Oh that... There are a lot of people named that way... Like... like this famous dancer named Rosa... err... Her name was just Rosa, I think..." The blond woman smiled, while she and Rydia pulled Edge down the corner leading to the show stage of the tavern. 

At the entrance, a man stopped them. "Entry fee is ten thousand gold!"

Rosa, Rydia and Edge exchanged glances. "I have brought money with me, but not that much..." Rosa whispered towards Edge. On the other hand, the thought of retracing their steps into the tavern was not to her liking, as well.

"Who says that we'll pay..." the ninja grinned. He tried to shove the man aside. "Don't you recognize her?" He pointed at the blond Queen. 

The guard looked her up and down suspiciously. "Err... something strikes me familiar..."

Rosa got pale. "Are you mad?" she hissed at Edge.

"Don't worry..." The ninja told her, than addressed the guard. "Of course you know her – it's Rosa, the dancer! She needs to start her performance in... about two minutes... And if you now would please let us pass..."

"Rosa? Never heard of a gal named Rosa..."

"I'm.... I'm the replacement for one dancer who got sick... and Rosa's not my real name... My husband wouldn't be fond if he knew what I was doing..." Rosa tried her best to lie, cursing Edge inwardly for the situation he had brought upon her.

"Oh... But you are not dressed as a dancer... The girls usually bring with them their costumes..." The guard was still not convinced.

"This... this is... This is because my specialty is dancing without..." She blushed heavily. "You know what I mean!"

The man gave her a dirty smile. "Oh – _now_ I understand! Very well, come on through..." 

He stepped aside from the stairs. "What are the cute girl and the other guy are doing, though?"

"She is a friend... and he is doing the same I do only for the female audience!" Rosa said quickly with a satisfied smile in Edge's direction.

The basement of the tavern was less crowded and loud than the rooms upstairs, but also rather dark. Only some candles were bathing some tables and the stage at the other side of the room in a dim light.

"That was a narrow escape!" Rosa leaned against the wall, "Edge, Rydia - we agreed not to call each other by our real names, as long as people don't recognize us... And what was this about the dancing stuff, Edge?  It was so embarrassing!"

"Hehe -- but it was your idea. There are thousands of Rosas: like the dancer!" Edge laughed loudly. "Besides you did great upstairs... Although, what was that about me dancing for the girls?" He frowned. "Anyway – if Cecil hears about this--"

"He'll scold you for being so careless, Edge, as always..." Rosa said, though had to blush, again.

"Did you hear what the customers said about the airships?  It sounded as if they thought they were doing something bad..." Rydia frowned.

"I cannot hold it against them - after all many wars were lead with the help of those ships. However, in the end it was also due to them that peace returned to the Blue Planet and that people were able to aid their allies more quickly," the young Queen mused. "I guess every invention has two sides of the coin. But let's try to ask one of the customers here about the group we're looking for... Perhaps people here are more friendly..." 

"Yes..." Rydia looked around the room -- only about ten people, mostly men, were sitting at the tables. Suddenly loud music started and the curtain on the stage was raised, slowly.

"Oh no! The show is starting!" the caller shouted against the music. Six women wearing red silk were starting to dance on the stage.

"We'll still ask..." Rosa started off to an old man; clad in wizard's garb.

"Sorry, mister..." she addressed him.

"Eh?" the man shouted. "I wanna see the show!"

"It'll only take a minute!" the Queen said, louder. "Do you know of a group called the Dark Paladins?"

The wizard gave her a blank stare. "What? The music is too loud!"

"The Dark Paladins!" Rydia shouted this time.

"Eh?"

"THE DARK PALADINS!" Rosa shouted on the top of her lungs - only then she noticed that the music had stopped, as the dancers had finished their first act. 

"What was this about being as inconspicuous as possible?" Edge asked into the silence. 

Rosa smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she said, all eyes on her. "We just wanted to know about this..."

"Yes... We all heard you by now, young lady..." The old wizard said. "The Dark Paladins have a base in the woods. Very well-behaved people... But who are you that you don't know about them? You're not from Tororia, right? Wait... Don't I know your faces from somewhere?"

"Yes..." another customer agreed, trying to study Rosa and her companions in the dim light. "Isn't this guy the King of Eblan?" 

"No way!"  Another patron, who was obviously already drunk, babbled. "What could this guy want in Tororia?  All he cares for are women!  I heard that while his Kingdom was under attack, he was strolling around in the ruins of Bab-il and looking for crystal pieces to give to one of his several concubines as a present..."

"What?" Edge snapped "That's a lie! I never..."

"Edge... Can we go, please..." Rydia whispered. Some customers had left their seats and were approaching them.

"A chocobo farmer spotted an airship outside of town... It's your one isn't it?" one man asked, his eyes sparkling dangerously. 

"We don't want such things here – Tororia is a peaceful country!  Keep your war machines in your own kingdoms!" another man said and was supported by cheers.

"What's that loud noise coming from? Has Rosa the dancer already started with her performance?" a voice came from the stairway. All the commotion had obviously attracted the guard from before as well as other curious people from the tavern upstairs, which were now blocking the stairs and thus the only way out of the room. 

"Dancer?  His concubine is a dancer?!" a woman exclaimed disgusted.  "Maybe he forces her to do so..." 

"We're having a little problem here..." Edge was laying his hand on his sword.

"Edge!" Rosa whispered. "We can't possible fight unarmed villagers!"

"Do you have a better idea?" the ninja hissed. "To me, they look like they're dangerous even without weapons!"

Indeed some people of the male audience had already grabbed for chairs and other objects with which they could attack and were advancing forward, again.

_CRASH! _

With a loud noise, part of the wall to the side of the stage suddenly slid away and four hooded people emerged out of the whole behind

"Oh... So the passage leads directly to the tavern..." one said with a full, male voice. 

"Seems we're not alone..." another of the strangers spoke, his voice dark and ironic. 

"Rosa?"  The third one asked, his voice more clear than the other two.

"Cecil?" Rosa whispered, and stared at the group on the stage, disbelieving.

Disbelief was also mirrored on the faces of the townspeople, who were all staring at the group as well. 

"What's that? A new show?"  One of the customers asked loudly.

"Seems they are in need of help," Dawn whispered to her companions. "These people are angry - and our friends seem to be the cause of it..."

"So we better get them out of here, eh?" Kain jumped from the stage and approached Edge, Rosa and Rydia.

"Here you are! We've searched the whole town for you!" he said, then turned to the townspeople, "I hope my relatives haven't caused you any problems."

"Relatives? What are you talking about?"  A man shouted. "This blue-haired guy here is a royal mischief-maker from Eblan with his two concubines in tow!" 

"Yeah – and the blond one is a cheap dancer!"  A woman added, the comment making Rosa blush heavily.

"Dancer?" Cecil frowned, but knew that he would have to take part in the little game as well.  He jumped from the stage.

"Darling!  Why did you run off again?"  He addressed Rosa, trying to make his voice sound deeper and older. "I forbade you to go about that work any longer!" 

Rosa blushed even more – the whole situation became way too embarrassing for her. "I... I thought that we needed the money..." she made up.

"Are you not content with our humble life?" He turned towards the townspeople. "I'm sorry for any problems they have caused... My wife here does not seem to be happy with the life of chocobo breeders..." In passing he took Rosa's hand, "we're making a dash for the stairs as soon as possible," he whispered into her ear.

His wife nodded only palely. Golbez and Dawn had followed them by now, Dawn taking Rydia's arm.

A woman sniffed into the air. "You smell like chocobo breeders after all... And what's with the other two?" She pointed at Edge and Rydia.

Cecil gave a help-searching look to Kain. 

The Dragoon grinned. "These? Oh – the youth there is our stable boy... He had a little accident with a wild chocobo once and since that time he thinks that..." his voice got lower, "he thinks that he's that filthy prince of Eblan... Poor boy – the fall back then  confused his senses. You should have seen the blood which--"

"Alright, we understood..." the woman interrupted him. "And what about the girl?"

"She's... she's my daughter." Cecil said quickly, but noticed at once that this had been a bad lie – Rydia looked much too old to be Rosa's child.

Kain tried to save the situation. "What my brother wants to say is that the girl is from his first wife..."

"Brother? First wife?" Luckily, no one could see Cecil's confused expression under the hood.

"Are ye kidding us?" an elderly man demanded. "Now don't tell me that this person next to the green gal is that wife..."

Dawn blushed slightly under the hood. "Oh...but in fact I am..." She hugged Rydia, who tried to look happy.

The townspeople started to murmur. "We don't know what odd people you are, but you surely don't sound old enough to be her mother, woman..." A man stepped forward, trying to look under Dawn's hood.

Golbez stepped in his way. "Hands off from my wife!" The order sounded not very emotionally, but Golbez's tall stature was enough to make the man retrace his steps.

"Your wife?!  What kind of perverts are you?"

"We're living in an alternative farming community outside of town... We live after the motto: where love falls, it falls..." Dawn explained.

"That's enough!" the guard shouted from the stairs. "This all sounds mighty confusing... Show us your faces, because _we_ live after the motto: strangers who disturb our peaceful little town will have to pay for it..." He drew his weapon.

"Very well..." Kain approached the guards, motioning the others to follow him. "But please don't be shocked – right now our animals are ill with chocobo-poxand we seem to have caught it, as well..." He had now arrived at the stairs and reached out for his hood.  "Don't worry – although it's very infectious, it's not dangerous and only disfigures the face a little..." 

"Uaahh! Stay away from us!" Some people were looking at him disgusted and backed away from the stair.

"That's it! Go!" Cecil shouted and pulling Rosa with him, rushed up the stairs, the confused villagers not even knowing what happened to them.

"Oh - I'm sooo sorry..." Kain gave a man who was standing at the upper end of the stairs a push with his elbow - his victim tumbled downstairs with a cry, taking several other people including the guard with him in the fall. 

"We have to hurry - the chocobos need to get fed!" Dawn shouted apologizing to the patrons upstairs, who were pushed aside mercilessly by the group and did not know whether they should follow the strangers or help their fellow citizens downstairs. 

The group used the common confusion to exit the tavern as fast as they could, not caring for the raucous which was starting behind them just now. They ran as fast as they could until they had reached the edge of the woods outside of Tororia and were out of view from the townspeople.

"That was close..." Cecil panted and removed the hood of his cape.

"The smell of these covers is really awful!" Dawn remarked, removing her own cloak.  "The chocobo-pox, eh Kain?" she laughed. "That was a good idea!"

"Yeah - especially the part about the stable boy..." Edge huffed, but only some moments later had to grin. "But the whole dancer thing was very funny, don't you think so, Rosa?"

"Yes, what's..." Cecil started to ask, but was stopped by his wife, who shot him an unusual sour look. 

"Please let's not talk about this..." she blushed, but for a moment Cecil had the impression that a smile was playing on Rosa's lips, as well.

"I think we all did very well - even Golbez here..." Kain could not hide atone ofmockery in his voice.

"Yes... Even I have to admit that this was a quite an amusing little adventure..." Golbez said, although his face seemed strangely without expression as he removed the cover from his long, night-black hair.

"You all!" Rydia gasped. "How did you get into the tavern?"

Cecil and the others exchanged glances. "That's a long story..." he said, and the amusement on his face was replaced by seriousness.

"We found out some interesting things about this Dark Paladin group - no good ones, though, I fear... Lets get back to the airship and talk about things there."

~*~

"So they think that the return of the moon proves that the Lunarians are responsible for the happenings of late... On top of that they teach the people that most rulers on the Blue Planet, including us, are blind spawns of the Lunarian race and that the airships are the work of evil..." Rosa sighed. "That would explain the hostile reaction of the people in the tavern."

"But I cannot believe this! The people were really aggressive," Rydia wondered. "Do they really hate us that much? I mean... I always believed that the people liked Cecil and Rosa," she could not hide a grin as she continued, "and even Edge... And now they're blaming you for everything!" 

"Maybe Samon has the ability to manipulate the mind... Remember that most members of the Dark Paladins we've met so far were able to use that kind of power..." Golbez remarked.

"That's right. Claudius tried to trick me and Kain just by telling us lies..." For once, Cecil could agree with his brother.

"And Kieran tricked me into doubting you and going with him..." Rydia whispered.

"But these were only psychological tricks!  It's not enough to bring up people against their Kingdoms, is it?" Edge said.

"Maybe Samon is not applying psychological tricks, but some kind of powerful magic in order to manipulate the people?  Like Golbez did once with me and Zeromus did with him..." Kain said gravely, not looking the black wizard fully in the eyes. 

"But to use this power on so many people..." Cecil frowned. "Unless..." His gaze suddenly locked with Dawn's, who obviously had just had the same idea. 

"The black stone!"  Both exclaimed nearly simultaneously. "It might be the key to solving this mystery. Maybe it strengthens the magical energies somehow. The merchant in the shrine might have gotten an amulet or something like this of the same material from Samon..."

"A black stone? The head sister in Tororia castle was wearing a black necklace..." Rosa paled visibly.

"That does not sound good... Imagine the clerics are under the influence of this Dark Paladins as well..." Rydia looked afraid all of a sudden.

"Sounds to me as if we should get hold of the stone somehow.  Maybe we just need to destroy it to break the spell - that's how the story goes, right? And the Dark Paladins wouldn't be able to manipulate more people!" Obviously; at least Edge was still in good spirits. 

"Yes - you are right... Even if destroying the stone might not solve all our problems, as parts of the material are scattered in the population, it's at least a start," agreed Cecil. "Let's search the headquarter for it, tonight - we shouldn't waste any more time!"

"Right, we can't afford to allow this group to stir up any more irritation under the townspeople!  So lets get ready for later on."

The group scattered apart, each one preparing himself or resting.

"Dawn, could I speak with you?" Cecil held back the female Paladin as she was about to leave the meeting place.

"Yes?" For a moment it seemed as if Dawn was afraid of something. "Is it about Kain's idea in the tavern?  If you felt embarrassed..."

"Dawn! Why should I feel embarrassed about it?  I guess quite some men envied me in that moment." He winked at Dawn, making her smile in return, but soon, a weary look crossed his face again. "No, it's something else..." Cecil ran his hand through his hair as he always did when his mind was occupied by something. "I was just thinking about what Samon did with the merchant. Manipulation of the mind usually builds up on strong feelings like fear, hate or jealously - at least that's what happened once to Kain and Golbez, I believe... The hypnosis or spell only strengthens already existent negative feelings in victim, right?" 

"Yes..." Dawn replied, already suspecting what the Paladin was getting at.

"So... This means that the townspeople must have mistrusted the Lunarians... and myself before... I fear that the people in Baron might feel similar. I wonder if in my time as King, I caused more misery than I did things right..." It was clear that the Paladin was feeling distressed.

"Well, what do _you_ think?" Dawn asked him quietly.

He shrugged. "I surely made mistakes, but I tried my best... Even at the point where I decided to keep silent about Golbez... I wanted to protect him -- and I didn't want to worry the good people of Baron any more than necessary. They already had to endure enough hardship during the fight against Zeromus." 

Dawn nodded and laid a soft hand on his shoulder. "So -- you only tried to do your best... Still, do not forget that people sometimes 'work' differently from what one expects. In your eyes you only wanted to keep all problems away from the people in Baron, but they might think that you were mistrusting them or not caring about them enough to inform them. After all, it's their Kingdom as well..."

Dawn suddenly averted her gaze and--almost shyly--drew her had away from his shoulder.  "Sometimes... Sometimes I believe that humans are not made to be content.  That they always want to have the one thing they cannot have -- even if they know that this thing is unreachable for them..." She smiled quickly. "Sorry!  I didn't want to depress you even more. It'll be alright, Cecil. The fact that even now you're thinking of your people and are concerned if you treated them bad, is the sign of a good, wise King," she told him and then turned around rather quickly. "See you later!"

"Thank you!" As always, Cecil felt better after a talk with Dawn, although he wondered if something was disturbing the young woman. 

He decided to search for Rosa and Kain in order to discuss the mission, which was awaiting them tonight. 


	11. Chapter 10: Burning moon

**10.**

_Burning moon_

"Do you think that it is really necessary for all of us to enter the headquarters, Kain?" Cecil wondered.

"It's a risk, I know, but we don't know how many of the guards are still in the building... We need all the help we can get for if they should discover us..." Kain whispered back, squatting, like the others, behind a bush near the front entrance of the former training hall in the woods.

"Let's hope that this won't be the case. Too bad that we couldn't take the secret passage in the tavern, but after all the commotion we have caused there,it's hardly likely that we ever will be able to set a foot into that establishment, again..." Dawn said. 

"That's strange... Although the Dark Paladins fear that people might infiltrate the building, there are only two men guarding the entrance. Do they feel so safe that it's not necessary in their eyes to raise their defenses?" Cecil was observing the entrance of the building attentively.

"Whatever. We still need to get rid of these two guys, as well... Right, Dawn?" Kain grinned, obviously the two of them had already agreed on a plan. Before the others could protest, they had disappeared, Dawn making her way swiftly and silently through the woods to the left of the building, while Kain dashed to the right.

In the shadow of the trees they approached the building from both sides and pressing their backs to the wall, crawled silently towards the entrance until they had reached the corner of the building. With a whistle from Kain, both rushed towards the guards, giving the surprised men no time to react; Kain had knocked down one of the men before the guard could even draw his weapon. Dawn had been faster in this respect -- in the moment she had left her hiding place behind the corner, she had unsheathed her rapier and was now pointing it at the throat of the other guard, the silvery blade glittering in the moonlight. 

With a quick movement, Kain knocked down the man with the hilt of his spear.  "That was nearly too easy..."

He motioned the others to come over and together they tied up the guards and dragged them behind some bushes.

The way being clear now, Cecil opened one of the vast front doors of the building, careful not to make a sound. One by one, they slipped through the opening and entered the entrance hall of the building, which was still lit but empty. 

"No guards?" Kain wondered. 

"Shh! There..." Rosa whispered as they suddenly heard footsteps. The group moved swiftly to the side of the room, hiding in the shadows of an alcove. A lonely guard in black armour through the hall slowly and disappeared in some corridor. 

"Whew..." Rydia exhaled, relieved. "So where is this stone kept?  Maybe we will even find the crystal shard!"

"The black knight disappeared behind the door at the end of the main hall as he fetched it," Cecil informed the others.

"Let's start looking there first." The group carefully made their way to the main hall, watching out for any sign of guards, but there was only an eerie silence in the air.

"I don't need to tell you that this is most certainly a trap, do I?" Golbez remarked.

"Yes, I know.  But we don't have a choice..." Cecil replied in a whisper, trying to ignore the feeling of a familiar presence, once again. After all it was only natural that the Black knight was staying somewhere in the building.

"It's locked..." Kain tried to open the door at the side of the stage. 

"Leave it to me!" Edge took a little, strangely shaped piece of metal out of his pocket. He started to fumble with it in the lock and after a while the door opened with a click.

"Edge! I didn't know you could break locks..." Rydia looked at the ninja with big eyes.

"Well, after I got locked in Baron's wine cellar by the maid, I felt that it was time to learn it..." the blue-haired man grinned and opened the door, carefully.

Behind it lay a little room constructed totally out of white marble like the rest of the building, the only colourful speck being a huge green Tororian flag, which was fastened to one wall. The only furniture in the room was that of a chair and a little secretary.  On the middle of the table, a covered object was lying. Judging by the evil aura that seemed to surround it, it was very likely that this was the same black stone they had been looking for.  

"Great, now we'll just have to destroy it." Kain approached the table and pulled away the cloth, revealing in fact the black lump of stone they had seen earlier this day. The Dragoon reached out to touch it, but suddenly hesitated.

_"He's afraid of the dark power.  What it might to do him..."_ Cecil understood what was going through his friend's mind. 

"I'll destroy the stone," he offered, although he was not looking forward to touching the stone, himself--even from a distance, the dark powers of the object seemed to reach out for his very being and he felt an icy cold creeping up in him. Under the anxious but also curious eyes of his friends, the Paladin wrapped part of his white cloak around his hand and took the stone from the table. Still, even through the fabric around his hand, a painful wave of energy flowed through his veins as soon as he had touched the stone, and he swayed for a moment, his vision blackening.

Cecil inhaled deeply, and gathering all his strength hurled the stone to the floor. It landed on the ground with a thump, but otherwise did not even get a crack...

"Great..." Edge remarked. "It does not only look like a stone, but also is solid as one. Maybe we should try magic to melt it...?"

As Cecil bent down in order to pick up the stone, he suddenly felt as if he was beingwatched. "We'll have to take the stone with us..." he told his friends. "We need to leave this place at once!"

"Going so soon?" A familiar voice sneered. Rosa jumped upon hearing the voice. The Tororian flag on the wall fell to the floor; revealing a secret passage from which the Black Knight and Sir Samon, a mocking smile on his thin lips, emerged.

"Oh - it's the chocobo breeders again!  How sad that you decided to leave us earlier than planned this morning!" The blond man chuckled. "But I knew that you would come back… Although I did not know that you were after _this_…" He nodded towards Cecil, who had just reached for the black stone, again, "but I thought you were searching for _that_…" Grinning, Samon pulled out a sparkling shard and held it up in the air.

"The crystal shard…!" Cecil hissed.

_Twing__! _

With a trenchant noise the shard was knocked out of Samon's hand and landed on the floor next to one of Edge's shurikens.

"Got it!" Cecil had stretched out his arm.  Before Samon could react**,** the Paladin was now in possession of both the crystal shard and the black stone.

"So, still bragging about your achievements?  We've looked through your schemes!" Kain shouted, gripping his lance with both hands. "We know that you're manipulating the people into believing in your own ideals, but we will stop you now!" He stormed towards the man, but did not come far, as the Black knight was once more unleashing his terrible "Dark Wave" attack. The magical energy sent the whole group around Cecil backwards, knocking some of them out of the room and into the hall.

"Not again!" Edge scrambled to his feet and backed out of the door as well, in order to have more room to fight. To his shock, he and the others were 'welcomed' by several guards, who must have been hiding somewhere all along, just waiting for this moment.

Samon and the knight entered the hall, slowly, as if there was no need to hurry. 

"It was very careless of you to cause that much of a riot earlier this day--especially in the tavern..." he taunted. "Although we already knew of your presence before you even set foot in the town, of course..."

"How could you know?" Cecil asked why quickly letting the crystal slip into a pocket in the inner lining of his cloak. Pulling up Rosa with him, he scrambled to his feet. "You don't want to tell us that you are clairvoyant, do you?"

"You don't seem to know your companions very well, Paladin Cecil..." a dark voice sounded and another man stepped out of the shadows of the hall.  He probably was about 35, rather tall and elegantly clothed in the finest black silk; a breastplate of the darkest black was around his torso. Half-long, slightly curly black hair fell before his forehead, veiling one of his eyes, and although his features were intelligent and calm, they were betrayed by his gaze, which was piercing and cruel.

Next to Cecil, Dawn gasped -- she had become pale and was staring at the man in horror, one hand over her mouth in shock.

"Are you Mallack?" Cecil demanded to know.

"Yes, that's what I call myself. Although the charming lady there knows me under another name..." He approached Dawn and reached out for her with a black clad hand.

"Take your hands from her!" Cecil hissed and stepped into his way. He noticed that Golbez, as well, had taken a step forward.

"Now, now..." Mallack smiled. "I'm sure that Dawn wants to greet me; after all, we were lovers for a long time.  Now out of my way."

"Lovers..." 

_"Is that what Kieran wanted to tell before his death?"_ Cecil's eyes grew wide, but he still stood his ground. "I don't believe your words--stay away from her!" 

"It's all right..." Gently, Dawn pushed Cecil to the side and stepped forward.  She was still pale and her eyes were glassy, as if she was holding back tears.  "I already feared that I might meet you here, Nathaniel... Although I did not want to believe it.  And I cannot believe it even now..." 

"That sounds just like you.  You also never believed in the things I wanted to accomplish. That's why you left me: you didn't believe in _me_... Isn't it that way?" Mallack came closer. "Have you never missed me?  The days we spent together?  Or the nights?  The way I made you laugh... my kisses, my touch?"  He reached out with his hands, touching her face with his fingers.

"Yes, I've missed you." Dawn stared at him and slowly tears were forming in her eyes. "I thought of you day and night, Nathaniel... But you left me no choice, no chance..."

"No, _you_ left _me_ no chance..." Mallack twirled a lock of Dawn's silky hair around his finger, his look blank as if he was deep in thought. "After you had left, I felt I had lost everything... Until I built up this group."  He drew her nearer to him with one hand around her slim waist. 

"We're one of a kind, Dawn--you can manipulate, shape people after your own wishes as well. Come with me."

"No." Dawn whispered. "I'm not like you..." Still, she did not prevent Mallack from touching her. Cecil did not like the way things were turning out and he gripped the hilt of his sword -- none of the others had moved during the whole time as everyone's attention was focused on Mallack and Dawn. 

The dark-clad man started to trace the slender lines of the female Paladin's neck with his finger.

"Of course you are like me! Your powers have even improved.  I have to admit that originally I was planning to kill you--that's why I sent Claudius after you.  But now, as you stand before me in all your beauty, aslovely as ever, I don't know how I ever could have had such horrible plans..."

"Stop this... Your words are all lies." The silver-haired woman averted her gaze, her eyes filled with unbearable grief. 

Mallack uttered a disdainful laugh. "Call me a liar if you want!  But your eyes cannot lie to me.  I see love in them.  Love for me..." Suddenly he grabbed Dawn at her chin, pulling her face near to his own almost violently.

"Dawn!" Before any of her friends could move, Dawn had slapped the hand of Mallack away, her expression no longer sad, but furious. 

"You're mad!"  She shouted. "What do you know of love?!"  Her voice turned bitter. "There was a time when I looked up to you and now look what has become of you: a power-hungry lunatic!  You betrayed everything we believed in!" 

"_You_ were the only one betraying our beliefs!" Mallack's features were suddenly twisted with rage and he raised his arm, ready to strike her. 

"Don't even try it!" Cecil yelled and quickly stepped between the man and Dawn; twisting Mallack's hand, thus preventing the blow.

"Fool!" Fire seemed to burn in Mallack's eyes. With lightening speed he put a hand flatly on the Paladin's chest and murmured some words; without warning, Cecil was thrown backwards by some kind of unseen force, magical sparkles filling the air.

"Cecil!" Dawn rushed to the Paladin's aid, kneeling down next to his body. "Are you alright?" she asked full of worry.

"Yeah... Don't worry..." Cecil gasped weakly, holding a hand to the place on his chest where Mallack's spell had hit him.

"You are mad!" Dawn looked up and shot a disgusted look to the leader of the Dark Paladins, who was staring down at her and Cecil.

"I... I can't believe that you can look at me with so much hate..." Mallack whispered, his eyes filled with incomprehension. "Dawn, the weak little girl I once knew, chooses the company of such...powerless people over me!" His whole body shivered uncontrollably with rage and it looked as if he wanted to prepare another magical spell.

"Leave them alone!" Rosa could not stand idly by any longer.  Pushing a guard to the side, she rushed towards her friends.  Before she could reach them, Mallack caught her by the arm savagely. "I don't think I've invited you into our conversation..." he hissed into her ear.

"Leave her alone!" Cecil panted, a painful expression on his face, but he could not muster the strength to stand up yet.

"Don't worry..." Dawn whispered, then glared at Mallack. "I was never weak, Nathaniel!" With all her power she jumped up, unsheathing her silver sword in the process and sliced Mallack's arm, causing him to let go of Rosa.

Samon and some guards wanted to rush to their master's aid, but Mallack held up a hand, motioning them to stay where they were. His expression was marked by disbelief as he looked at the fabric of his sleeve, which was now soaked with blood.  He looked at Dawn, who was standing protectively before Cecil, the bloody sword still in her hand.

"You really don't love me anymore..." Mallack murmured. "You would hurt me only to protect _them_?" His eyes fell on Cecil who was scrambling to his feet now and motioned Rosa to move away from Mallack.

"I wonder if you would also kill me..." Mallack continued, directing his gaze back to Dawn. The female Paladin avoided his gaze.  "Interesting...  Maybe there's hope after all," He smiled bitterly and suddenly turned his back to the group without fear.

"I've changed our plans!" He told the guards. "I'll leave retrieving the stone and the crystal to you.  Kill them if necessary--except for Dawn.  I want her alive!"  He faced the group again and bowed in a quizzical way. "I wish I could say that it has been a pleasure to meet such selected royal guests, but I fear that you just proved what I already knew... You're a nuisance which has to get eradicated from the face of the planet for the greater good!" He started to walk towards the exit.

"If you think I'll let you go like this..." Cecil wanted to storm after him, but was held back by Dawn 

"Cecil!  Please!" she plead, "he's too strong--it will be hard enough to get out of here alive without fighting him..."

"She's right," Golbez said darkly.

"Oh, I nearly forgot about you..." Mallack stopped. "Try to catch the black wizard alive as well.  He's one of us and might prove more than useful... Oh and a last word of advice to our 'guests': if you should survive this day, which is quite unlikely, you should keep an eye on Dawn.  She might betray you as she betrayed me... Don't look at me that way, Paladin Cecil... You cannot escape the truth..." With a bitter laugh he left the room.

"So... Seems that the time fortalking is now over. Mallack does not need you any longer for his plans. What a pity..." Samon shot them a false look of sympathy, while reaching for his weapons.  

"You heard our orders!" he shouted and charged forward together with the other guards and the black knight.

"QUAKE!" 

Rydia had secretly planned to cast this in case of an attack and had prepared the spell during the last minutes, now aiming it to the floor some yards away from her, so that she herself would not get hurt. With a loud sound the ground broke open, cracking the marble tiles in the process, and causing several guards to loose their footing.

"Great move, Rydia!" Edge smiled and stormed towards the helpless guards, unsheathing his two swords. 

The caller smiled as well. Although she could not cast Summoning magic anymore since the entrance to the Underworld had collapsed, she was proud to still having some aces up her sleeve. 

"You're fighting with a dagger? That's the weapon of a murderers and thieves!" Kain gave Samon a disparaging look while charging towards him. "Jump!" He jumped into the air, but before descending upon Samon, his lance was blocked by something and nearly got knocked out of his hand.

"A dagger is a very effective weapon when used together with a sword!" Samon laughed, having unsheathed a short sword quickly, wielding it with ease.

"How many of them are there?" Dawn hit a guard with her sword at the shoulder, having aimed at the vulnerable point where the breastplate was fastened to his body. The man crumbled down to the floor, but another guard was already charging at her from behind. Before he could reach her, though, an arrow buried itself into his back, and the man went to the floor. As Dawn turned around, surprised, she saw Rosa winking at her, her bow in one hand.

"Yah!" Cecil knocked the sword out of the hands of his attacker, then hit him in the stomach with the hilt of his own weapon. Out of the corner of his eye the Paladin spotted Golbez, who was just getting attacked by several enemies: the wizard was holding his stand like a rock amidst the surf, a powerful, but also uncanny sight to behold.

With a wave of his hand, Golbez let soaring fireballs rain down upon the attackers, bringing them down to their knees within seconds. One person had avoided the burning drops, though -- it was the Black Knight. Noticeable, he as well as Samon were still on their feet. The Knight especially seemed to be virtually immune against most attacks, and was now approaching Edge. ****

"It was a mistake of mine to spare your lives the last time we met, but orders were orders... As they are now..." The knight laughed cruelly, raising his sword and bringing it down onthe ninja, who could dodge the blow only barely. 

"I'm coming to your aid as fast as I can!" Kain shouted towards his friend. "Just need to teach this braggart here a lesson!" With a war cry he prepared for another jump attack, which Samon could dodge, this time with more effort though.

"You're too slow, Dragoon!" Samon smiled, though as he looked up, the blond man was nowhere to be seen. "What the hell--?"

"I think that I'm too fast for you!" The Dragoon grinned triumphantly as he came down behind Samon, digging his spear into the shoulder of the man.

"ARG!" With an amazing amount of strength and will, Samon pulled out the lance and flung it to Kain's feet with a cry of rage.  "I cannot afford to die here! Lets retreat!" He shouted to the guards who were still standing.

"What about the stone?" One man protested.

"Forget the stone!"  Samon replied. "Morrison will take care of it..." He nodded towards the Black Knight.

"Morrison..." Cecil was sure that he had heard this name before...

"Cecil, shall we follow them?" Kain shouted. Samon and most of the other men were already on their way outside.

"No..." The Paladin ordered, although he would have liked to teach Samon a lesson. "We have enough problems with our friend here!" Cecil stormed forward, dealing the Black Knight a blow from behind -- as he had feared, his blade did not even scratch the armour. 

"All your efforts are fruitless!" The knight turned around, laughing.

"We'll never win against him if we can't crack the armour open." Dawn panted.

"There might be a way..." Rosa frowned. "I once heard that magical energies can weaken the fabric of certain materials. While he's distracted like this, I could---"  Right now the Black knight was just about to cast Dark Wave again, trying to get rid of Cecil. 

"Rydia!  Cast 'Ice' on his helmet!" Rosa shouted. Although Rosa's request surprised the caller, Rydia obeyed her wish. 

"_Ice!_" She aimed the spell at the helmet of the man as precisely as she could; white magical energies emerged from her fingertips and hit the helmet of the knight, covering it with a faint screen of frost. 

In just that moment, Rosa fired her bow. The arrow hit the helmet just in the middle - with a grinding noise, the headwear suddenly showed a large crack.

"Now you're done for!" Cecil panted and attacked the knight with a full body check, which knocked the man off his feet. As he hit the floor, his visor cracked in two, revealing the face of a man around 50, his hair grey and some of his features strangely familiar to Cecil.

_"It couldn't be..."_

"What..." Rosa's bow clattered to the floor as she caught sight of the man's face and her eyes were suddenly wide with shock. 

"Rosa--what's the matter?" Edge, who was not standing far from her, asked. 

In the meantime, the knight tried to scramble to his feet again, mumbling something. Cecil rushed towards him, his sword raised, though stopped halfway as he caught sight of his wife.

"Cecil! What the matter?" Kain demanded angrily. "Finish him off!  Now is your chance!"

"But don't you remember?  Morrison..." Rosa whispered slowly, not able to draw her eyes away from the man on the floor. "That... that was the name of my... father..."

"Your father..." Cecil repeated, his voice only a mere whisper. 

"Rosa, your father is dead!" Kain shouted. "Finish him off, Cecil!  There might be a thousand people named Morrison and this one will kill us once he gets to his feet again!"

"No!  This is my father...  I knew it the moment I saw him..." Rosa shook her head, her voice faltering.

"Cecil, tell her that she's wrong!" Edge shouted.

The Paladin, looking at the man on the floor, suddenly lowered his sword. "I... I cannot..." He knew that Rosa was right.  He had known it since the moment he had heard the name and seen the face of the other.

_"That's why he seemed so familiar to me all this time..."_

Although Cecil had been a child when he had last met Rosa's father, he still could remember him very well.  Though what had made Morrison's presence so familiar to him was some kind of aura he partly knew was from another person--from his wife and Morrison's daughter, Rosa.

The Black knight was on his knees now and reached for his weapon; his eyes were hard and deprived of emotion.

"No... He's regaining his strength..." Cecil gasped. "Quickly! Out of here, while we still have time!"

"But--" Rosa took a few steps towards the Knight, but was caught by Cecil, who whirled her away from the man in an unusually rough way. 

"Rosa!"  He begged, holding both her arms and shaking her slightly -- it was obvious that she was in a state of shock. "Rosa! He's alive and that's all that counts!  But he will not recognize you--he will attack you!  He's not the man you once knew..." he told her in a rather hard voice.  He hated to talk to her in such a way, but he had to make her listen to him.

"No..." His wife's golden locks fell into her face as she shook her head and struggled to get out of his grasp. "He's my father..."

"Rosa! Cecil! Hurry up!" Kain shouted, already at the exit.

"Yes, and as your father he would want us to get you out of here alive!"  Cecil said, this time softer, but seeing as his wife's only concern now was forthe man on the floor, he gripped her around her slender waist and heaved her up. "I'm sorry, darling," he said as he hauled her upper body over his shoulder, ignoring Rosa's protest and her demands to let her down again.

Holding her even tighter, though she started hammeringon his back with her fists, he carried her outside as fast as he could, following the others into a relatively safer part ofthe woods. 

"Lets head towards the airship!"  He could hear Kain's voice from afar and tried to follow his friend through the darkness of the night as best as he could. 

Although he tried to soothe Rosa with words, her kicks and screams made it hard for him to walk. Her attacks hurt him not only physically**, **but alsopsychologically: he had never wanted to treat his beloved wife in such a way and it pained him to see her in such a desperate state of mind. 

As Rosa's resistance did not lessen in the least, he knew that he could not bear her furious attacks for much longer. 

"Rosa, please stop! You're hurting me!" Cecil's tone was a mixture out of anger and despair. To his surprise, his wife stopped attacking him, either because of exhaustion or because she was slowly coming to her senses.

"Cecil... How can this be...my father..." she sobbed--obviously she was calming herself.

"I don't know. But he's alive... Nothing is lost, yet..." Her husband half-lied, not wanting to upset her again by mentioning the state her father was in. "Shall I let you down again?" he asked carefully and reduced the grip around her waist.

Rosa just shook her curly-haired head, sliding down a bit from his upper body in order to put her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Just hold me for a moment," she said, her voice hoarse, but sounding normal again.  Cecil smiled, holding her in his arms as tight as possible.  Suddenly he noticed that Dawn had waited for them some feet away, her face lit by the moon, her eyes large and sad.

"Cecil... I'm so sorry..." she said, her whole expression crestfallen.

Cecil shook his head. "It's alright." He said. "We'll talk later about it, but don't worry..." Dawn's face lightened up a bit and she walked away, obviously not wanting to disturb the couple any longer. 

Rosa demanded to get let down again and Cecil set her carefully upon the ground once more. Visibly ashamed, his wife wiped some tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry... I did not want to act so unreasonable... Did...did I hurt you?" 

Cecil's back was indeed aching, but he really did not care at the moment. "Don't worry about it.  You were in shock and most people would probably react that way in such a situation..." He assured her.

Rosa laughed between her tears. "You're lying, but I appreciate that... But you were right about one thing: my father is alive and although there's nothing we can do right now, that's all that's important."

Cecil smiled at her. "Right, and _we _are alive as well.  But lets talk later about this.  We have to get away from here!" Rosa nodded and both broke into a run.

They caught up with their friends in a little clearing. The others were surprised to find Rosa, though pale faced, in a composed state again.

"Once more, she turned out to be stronger than I thought..." For a moment the Paladin wondered if her behaviour was only a facade, but as he looked into her face, which was illuminated slightly by the pale light of the moon, there was no doubt that she had indeed calmed down.  He remembered the night in which her trust had made him believe that everything was possible as long as the two of them were together.  Was she thinking of it as well?  Perhaps she was convinced that together they would be able to bring Morrison back to his senses, for they had overcome so many obstacles before... 

Cecil was pulled out of his thoughts, as he noticed that Golbez was motioning him to come over.  The expression of his brother was hard to distinguish, as his gloomy figure nearly seemed to form a unity with the darkness surrounding them.  Cecil left Rosa in the company of Kain and the others and hurried over to his brother.

"Is something the matter?"

"The airship is stationed in thatdirection, isn't it?" Golbez pointed towards some trees. "Listen carefully..."

Cecil tried to calm down his breathing and listened.  In the direction Golbez had pointed to, shouts and cheering were audible. "What--"

Suddenly a loud bang destroyed the silence of the night and a grey ball of smoke was outlined against the dark sky.  

"What the hell!?" Kain could not believe what he had just witnessed. 

"I hate to say it, but it smells like fire..." Edge noticed. 

The friends looked at each other. "The airship!"

The group hurried as fast as they could towards the landing place, the screaming getting louder and the smell of burnt wood getting stronger and stronger as they came nearer. Their greatest fear had become reality: even from afar they could see that the airship was ablaze.  Several people, most of them obviously citizens of Tororia, were watching the spectacle, waving torches in their hand and cursing the suffering airships had brought to the Blue Planet. 

Staying in the protection of some trees, Cecil watched the celebrating people, shocked--for a moment he was also sure that he had spotted Samon among the crowd.

"They've destroyed the airship..." Rydia's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Yes... Cid will kill us..." Edge remarked dryly.

"Forget Cid for a minute!" Kain whispered angrily. "What are we to do now?  Shall we confront them?"

"And do what?  Kill them?" Cecil shook his head.  Although the citizens posed a threat to them right now, they still were under the influence of Mallack and his men and thus probably did not know what they were doing. 

"For now we have to get away from here before we get discovered by them. Dawn, do you know a safe place to rest?"

For a moment Dawn seemed surprised that Cecil, despite the happenings of late, would still ask her for advice, but as she noticed the expecting looks on everyone's face, her doubts were scattered. 

"Yes... At least I hope that it'll be safe.  There's a little cave not far away from here.  It's at the western edge of the forest.  Follow me!" 

Before Cecil followed the others into the woods, he turned around one more time, watching the people celebrating the burning airship.  He had fought against so many things in his life--man and monster--but the sight of these once peaceful people, who now were cheering loudly, their wild, nearly insane features gleaming in the light of their torches, instilled fear in his heart he had not known before. _"How could this ever happen? We're no longer fighting against a small group of madmen, but against our own people, our own citizens... Were we so wrong?"_

Just now the great propeller of the once proud _Falcon_ was crashing down, burning, the flames filling the air with millions of sparks, bathing the nightly sky in a terrible red. 

"_As if the moon was burning as well..."_


	12. Chapter 11: Her story

**11.**

_Her story_

"Uff! I can't run anymore…" Rydia puffed.

"Don't worry, we're already there!" Dawn pointed towardsa dark opening in the stony massive mountain wall before them. She entered the cave almost reluctantly, as if the place was invoking unpleasant memories in her.

"Let's find some wood to make a fire. Care to help me, Edge?" Kain asked, looking worriedlyat Rosa and Cecil. Although the Queen of Baron was calm again, her eyes were full of unanswered questions -- Cecil was sitting next to her and talking to her in a low voice.

Kain wondered how he could talk to her as if nothing had happened -- after he had seen the terror in Rosa's eyes as she had seen her father, the state of shock she was in, even hurting her own husband in her despair. The dragoon did not know if he could have soothed her fears in the way Cecil could.He thought of Diane, wondering how she might feel in this moment. 

They gathered wood and managed to start a little fire, not daring to make it any bigger, for it would drag too much attention to the cave if any of Mallack's men had followed them. The mood was rather disheartened and most of the friends were staring glumly and silently into the flames. Too many things had happened: what had started out as an attempt to gather information in the beautiful town of Tororia had ended in a nightmare. Their precious airship, the _Falcon_, had been reduced to a pile of ashes and the friends were feeling like fugitives, as they were not only fleeing from Mallack's men, but from an enemy far more disturbing: innocent natives of the Blue Planet. Rosa's father was under the command of Mallack and Dawn, who had seemed so trustworthy, was connected to the Dark Paladins as well.

There were so many questions which needed to be asked, and Cecil did not know with which one to start. He felt for the black stone in his pocket, and even through the thick layers of fabric, its dark energy made him shudder.

To Cecil's surprise, Golbez was the first one who spoke again. He looked around in the cave. "What luck that you still remembered this place, Lady Dawn..." he said, although it was clear that he remarked this in the purpose of interrogating the female Paladin.

"Yes.  I used to come here quite often when I was a child," she said and turned her gaze down. It hurt Cecil to see her this way -- during the last hours, the friendly, self-assured woman he knew had changed. Although the shadows of her past had not been able to extinguish a glimmer of the confidence in her eyes, her once cheerful laugh now sounded pained and her smile seemed forced and sad.

"Dawn," Kain was looking at her earnestly, "what Mallack said about you betraying us: I don't believe it."

_"Kain knows best how it feels when you aresuspected of betrayal..." _Cecil watched his friend attentively. 

"Thank you…" Dawn tried to smile. "I'm still so sorry," she said, not looking at Kain, but at Cecil in that moment, "and I'm completely aware that there's no real reason for you to trust me any longer... Unless--"

"Unless you just tell us what you know about Mallack," Rosa said suddenly, in a low tone, though friendly. "This is not a question if we trust you, but if _you_ trust _us_..." 

The silver-haired woman looked at her; surprised, but also insecure as if talking about her past posed a difficulty for her. 

"Very well... I never told anyone about my past before. It is something which only pains me upon remembering it.  But now it seems to have finally caught up with me, so I will have to face this pain..." She inhaled deeply and then leaned back against the stone wall of the cave, her eyes suddenly lost in a world only she could enter. Her features were calm and composed, as she started to tell her story with a quiet voice:

"As you all know, I was born in Tororia. My mother was a Tororian fighter, but I know very little of my father.  Rumours said that he was a traveling wizard, but maybe this was just a lie of other people to explain the fact that he left my mother while she was pregnant. Thus, my mother had to raise me up, alone -- she was a very ambitious woman and wished that her daughter should follow her footsteps. That's the reason why she enrolled me in the Tororian military academy when I was still a child. She died in a training accident when I was 10... From that time on, I was raised by the military..."

"That must have been awful for you..." Rydia said quietly next to her, hugging her own knees.

Dawn just shrugged. "Due to the strict training in the academy, there was not much place for sadness, anyway...  Also, the military had become my home long before my mother died, so things did not change that much for me. Only _I _changed... Although I was a good student, other people, including my teachers, were becoming afraid of me... It had something to do with my presence, with my gaze: the people thought that my eyes were piercing and frightening... In fact, even as a child, I had the ability to sense the emotions of others very strongly, if I wanted or not. I do not know if this is a 'heritage' of my father or where it might come from... It was like as if I could look into the very heart of people, into their core. But what I saw more often frightened me, than it fascinated me: the emotions of others seemed like living masses to me, reaching out for my heart, confusing me, confronting me with aspects of life I was too young to understand. However, the people around me knew nothing of my fears, but only saw their own fear. All humans need the right to have their own little world, to have some secrets only known to themselves and they probably thought, that I was taking away this freedom from them." Dawn sighed deeply. 

"If anyone had ever asked me about the way I was feeling, they had seen that I was not trying to look them up and down for their secrets, but that I was as afraid of my powers, as they were! But so they told me again and again that I was strange, and I started to believe so, as well... Finally, I saw my only solace in solitude where I couldn't hurt or irritate anyone. Thus, I spent most of my free time in and around this cave. It was the only place where I had the feeling that I could escape the frightening power of human emotions and be myself. In contrast to people, nature did not feel offended when I tried to grasp its core, nor did the feeling of the grass, the trees and the sky around me scare me... For once, my power did not seem a curse, but a possibility to feel life itself in a deeper way than I had thoughtit possible... Still, even this feeling could never be a replacement for the thing I craved most: someone who would accept me the way I was..."

A slight smile suddenly brightened Dawn's face; as Cecil noticed, it was the first 'real' smile since they had encountered Mallack.

"As I was sixteen when I met 'him'... Mallack, or better, Nathaniel. He came to visit Tororia.  He was a twenty-three-year old boy back then from some little hamlet no one had ever heard of. For some reason, he wanted to enroll in Tororia's forces, though as you know, the military here consists entirely of women. Of course he wasn't allowed.  I stumbled into him as he was leaving the castle, angry and cursing. The moment I looked into his eyes, he fascinated me. There was so much defiance and pride in them -- he seemed so free, not bound by the wishes and expectations of others, like I was... Although, I sensed that deep in his core there was something he craved for, desperately, with burning ambition. However, it was only small, so I dismissed it from my thoughts, thinking that this "thing" he craved for, was merely the wish to enter the army and I scolded myself at once for having used my cursed power on him.  

"I was sure that my gaze had irritated him just as it did with all people. But to my surprise, he did not back away as he felt that I was studying him, he only smiled. Then he asked why a pretty girl like me looked so sad and lonely. That was something no one had ever asked me before -- maybe they had not dared to ask... Or maybe they had not even noticed how lonely I was, only caring about the way they were feeling... I do not know..." Dawn shook her head, a grave look on her face, which disappeared as she continued speaking of Nathaniel.

"We became friends very quickly... He told me that he had left his hometown, because he no longer could stand the narrow-mindedness of the people there. Nathaniel had been interested in magic since he had been a child and wished desperately to become a mage -- of course in a little hamlet like his hometown, there was neither interest nor a place for wishes like that. As his parents noticed that he did not want to become a farmer, they offered to him a start in an apprenticeship at the old village healer.  But the old man only applied mundane skills, and it was magic and mystery Nathaniel craved for. So he left...

Although Nathaniel's voice was full of hate when he talked about his hometown, he wasn't an aggressive person--he was just a young man trying to find his way, and I admired him for that, admired him for the strength to go this way, for the courage to break the restrains of other's expectations. Once, I asked him why he had wanted to join Tororia's army, and he told me that he had been doing it just because. He wanted to show the world that every goal was possible to achieve as long as you were fighting for it... Even such a strange thing as entering as a man in an army, which only women were allowed..." Dawn uttered a small laugh, which did notsound bitter like the ones before, but nearly cheerful and bright.

"Who knows? Maybe he would have succeeded in this if he had stayed only longer in Tororia… Nathaniel was that kind of person..."

_"I cannot believe that this Nathaniel and Mallack are the same person... Can a desire for freedom  and the need to choose one's own way get twisted in such a perverted way that they end in madness?" _Cecil mused to himself.

"What happened?" He asked Dawn, who had paused her story for a moment, obviously too lost in her memories. She smiled upon his question, though the smile seemed sad, as if she was already thinking of the end of her tale.

"I had liked Nathaniel since the moment we had met in front of Tororia's castle and in time, we fell in love. Maybe it was even love at first sight, but both of us were rather cautious persons as we had been rejected by others many times before and thus, it probably took us a while until we trusted each other. The townspeople weren't fond of our relationship -- in their eyes, we were two odd outsiders... Some people even started to whisper behind my back that I was committing the same mistake as my mother, who had as well started a liaison with a strange traveler. It made Nathaniel sad and angry that no one seemed to accept him. I could understand him very well -- after all, I had always felt like a stranger in town. 

"Thus, we decided to go away, to start a new life somewhere else. We felt strong back then--strong as we were not alone anymore. I remember that when I left town and was looking back on it for the last time, I was smiling... The love I felt for Nathaniel was by far stronger than any sentimental feelings concerning my hometown... Though we'd managed to take some chocobos and other stuff from Tororia with us, we still knew that it would be hard to make a living.  But we were sure that with Nathaniel's magic and my fighting skills, we would be able to get along somehow... In fact, Nathaniel practiced hard every day with his magical skills, becoming a very skilled black mage in time and, with my help, a good fighter as well.

"We made our living by traveling lands as… lets say 'idealistic mercenaries', if such a thing can exist. We helped other travelers or people in towns with whatever we could, be it protection from monsters or helping farmers with the harvest. To our surprise most people acted friendly towards us. Perhaps we were no longer infusing mistrust in the hearts of people because we never stayed long enough for them to see our full powers... However, I guess that it had to do as well with the fact that we both had changed and that we seemed more trustworthy, because we trusted more in ourselves...."

Joy concerning a time long pastflaredin Dawn's sea-blue eyes.  "The years I traveled with Nathaniel were the best ones I had... I experienced a freedom I had never known before and though sometimes I might have wished to dwell somewhere longer, the life of the travelers we lead did not make me unhappy... I had Nathaniel--I had the one person who accepted me as I was. He didn't mind my mind reading powers.  Yes, he even depended on them and used to say that I was the only one who understoodhim. He was sensible as well, being able to learn very soon how to interpret the gestures of the face, knowing exactly when I was sad or troubled..."

"Sounds like you were the perfect couple," Rydia said quietly.

Dawn nodded. "So it seemed... We had so many plans: in our travels we met many people similar to us; people with strange dreams and powers, people with visions, though some of them might just have been day dreamers… Most of them had faced isolation in their life, as they had been living in a surrounding which did not show sympathy for their dreams. Nathaniel and I talked about sometime settling down and building up a place for these people to gather -- for people who felt like us, people who just had to find their way into life. The idea itself may sound naive and childish, but it expressed well what we believed in: tolerance, to follow one's dreams, the freedom to chose..." She cast her gaze down, sorrowfully. "Today, in the shrine, Nathaniel told me that I had betrayed our beliefs… But it wasn't me..."

"Why? What happened?" Golbez asked, very calm, his dark eyes fixed intently on her.

"Despite our love and the life we led, no longer as outsiders, but as people getting welcomed in some towns, Nathaniel grew restless... I suspected that it had to do with his family and in fact I was right: one day as we traveled through the area of his hometown, he told me that he wanted to visit his family; he wanted to show them what had become of him. We decided that he would enter the town alone, as he could only suspect how the townspeople would react on him. So I waited... After two days he returned to me, pale, his face full of grief. He did not even greet me, but instructed me to pack our things right away and to travel on. 

"Only gradually, I learned what had befallen him: the townspeople and also his family had welcomed him friendly, although they could not hide their disappointment that Nathaniel had become something as 'useless' as a mage. Although they expressed their doubts as politely as possible, their behaviour disturbed Nathaniel and he tried his best to explain to them of what great use magic could be. Maybe in his stubbornness and insistence he could have even managed to convince them, but then a horrible thing happened: the day after Nathaniel's arrival, his father did not come back from the field. They found him, hurt badly -- obviously some kind of creature, be it monster or wild animal, had attacked him. The healer of town had perished some time ago and what little the people knew about medical care was not enough to help Nathaniel's father--the wound had already poisoned his blood. The people now focused their attention on Nathaniel, hoping that his magic would help. But, only able to wield some non-magical healing skills I had taught him, he could do nothing as well.  Even a drain spell which he focused on himself to give his father some of his strength, could not save the man..." 

"I see," Kain said, "Just as he was about to achieve the acknowledgement of the people of his home, his powers proved to be useless... All this time he studied hard, all the hardships he had faced to prove to the world, to his family, that his way was as 'good' as theirs must have seemed futile to him in the moment his magic could not even help his father..."

"Yes..." Dawn agreed. "Maybe it seemed to him that if he had become a healer like his parents had wanted, he might have been able to save his father... But I do not know this for sure.  The emotions which surged up in Nathaniel after the incident were too much even for my powers to grasp. The only thing I knew for sure was that he started to change. He became brooding and started to practice magic in every free minute; but the more he practiced, the more he got discontent with his powers. He started insisting that we should visit Mysidia as he wished to study the magical arts there--the one thing he now wished to learn was to wield White magic..." 

"To wield White as well as Black magic is a gift, which only the most talented or powerful sorcerers posses..." Rydia said pensively. "Even I lost my ability of White magic after my summoning powers came forward." 

"Yes. That's what the people in Mysidia told us as well. With some more proper training, Nathaniel would be able to wield powerful Black magic, but White magic was out of question… But he did not want to give up - he combed through the libraries for information on the origins of magic. Finally, he found scriptures telling of theories that all magic was closely connected with the appearance of the Lunarians on the planet and that a shrine dedicated to them--"

"--was on Mt. Ordeals..." Cecil concluded the story. "So he wished to go there in order to expand his powers. And he wasn't even wrong with his suspect.  After all, there I learned to use White magic."

"Exactly... Nathaniel left for Mt. Ordeals without telling me so... Although it was like a betrayal of my trust, my love for him was still greater than the awareness that the Nathaniel I had known, had changed. Thus, I waited for him, again... After two weeks he returned -- I don't know what had happened to him on the mountain, but he still could not use White magic. Also, his personality had made a change for the worse; he was aggressive, insulting everyone--even me… I tried to help him, but none of my words could soothe him... Not words of love, not words of how far we had come already, of the plans we had. After another quarrel in which he told me that I did not understand him, yes was only hindering him, I told him that I would leave him if that be so... 

"He laughed and said that I would never do so, that I was dependent on him...

The next night I left him. It was the hardest decision I made so far, but our concepts of life had become so different. I don't think that I really wanted to leave him forever, I still loved him, but I saw that his ambition for power was tearing him up from the inside and my company was not much of a help for him.... In fact, I believe that he was not only trying to prove things to himself and his people, but to me as well.  I hoped that he only needed time to understand what was really important in life.  Time alone..." For a moment it looked as if Dawn would start to cry, but she smiled only sadly.

"In the time that followed I, too, went to Mt. Ordeals, wanting to know what had disturbed Nathaniel so. But all I found there was peace and tranquility.  What I had feared before, being alone and dependant on him turned out to be wrong. I found out that I possessed my own inner strength I had not know of and that leaving Nathaniel had not changed my own inner being.  Time passed and I often had the wish to see him again, but he seemed to have vanished... I once heard from the townspeople that he had often been seen around Mt. Ordeals, so I often visited the mountain as well--that was one of the reasons why Cecil met me there..." She went silent.

"Why didn't you tell us, tell _me _these things earlier?" Cecil asked finally, though it was not reproachful, but gentle.

"I did not know that Nathaniel was behind the Dark Paladins. As I heard about the group for the first time, I felt reminded in some way of the plans Nathaniel and I had had. But I could not believe that he would twist them in such a mad way!" She shook her head, her face a mask of confusion and incredible sadness. "Not even as I met Claudius I could believe that it had been Nathaniel who had sent him after me.  He probably was even responsible for the pursuers on my way to Baron. He was spying on me all this time--and I didn't notice it..."

"Strange for a woman with your powers... You knew Nathaniel better than anyone else, knew of how he had changed and still did not suspect him?" Golbez remarked, though it was more a statement than a doubt. 

Kain obviously misinterpreted the dark wizard's comment, "Do you always have to mistrust everyone? Can't you just listen to what she says?" He snapped.

"Well my 'dear' Dragoon... If _you_ want to give me a lecture about trust, go ahead.." Golbez chuckled slightly.

Before Kain could answer, Dawn held up a hand and stopped him. "Please don't, Kain. I appreciate your trust, but Golbez is right.  Maybe deep in my heart, I suspected Nathaniel from the beginning, but stronger than any objective judgment was the hope that was left in me--the hope that he hadn't anything to do with all this and I clung tightly to this hope. I wanted to see with my own eyes who was behind all this, before judging my lost love…" 

Golbez nodded towards her, as if wanting to show her that he understood.

Dawn continued, "One way or another, I had to know who was behind all this. And I also knew that I couldn't do it alone, but needed someone I could trust..." She looked at Cecil and suddenly her eyes became clouded and she dropped her gaze, ashamed, "And I needed someone who would trust me..." She cleared her throat and her next words sounded more sincere than ever before: 

"I have to apologize again for not telling you sooner about these things. I never wanted to betray you, nor did I know that Rosa's father was under the spell of Nathaniel's group as well."  She bowed apolitically to Rosa, who, though it was clear that she was still shocked, smiled. 

"We all know that, Dawn," The Queen of Baron said softly, "it must have been hard for you as well."

The others also murmured words of encouragement.  Dawn's eyes grew wide with surprise -- obviously she had expected less understanding from her companions. As she caught Cecil's gaze, a hint of fear seemed to show on her face and her eyes asked the unspoken question: whether he would ever trust her again. The Paladin was watching her earnestly with his clear blue eyes, then he bent forward and reached for her hand, squeezing it slightly.

Dawn's pale taint suddenly showed the slightest hint of red and her lips curved into a slight, grateful smile.  "Thank you..." She whispered, then quickly drew her hand away and looked around the room. "If you have any more questions--"

"--they will have to wait for later." Golbez suddenly stood up and looked around suspiciously. "I have the feeling that someone is near here…"

"Me too," Cecil exclaimed and stood up as well, pulling Rosa with him. "Dawn - you said that you used to hide in this cave when you were a child.  Did Mallack... I mean Nathaniel, know of this place?"

Dawn reflected, certainly shocked. "I never showed him this place, but maybe--"

She stopped--from somewhere outside, voices could clearly be heard.****

"Maybe the townspeople followed us?" Kain suggested.

"Whatever - we better get away from here fast!" Edge proposed and helped Rydia, who was looking tired, up. "Everything all right?" he asked with unusual gentleness. Rydia gave a look to Rosa, who seemed exhausted as well, but nonetheless seemed inclined to go on.

"Yes, of course…" The caller tried to smile.

They quickly extinguished the fire and hurried out into the cold dark night. 

"Where to?" Rydia shivered as the chilly air of the night greeted them. There were nothing but steep mountain walls to their right and the dark forest to their left.

"Anywhere... Just away from here," Cecil murmured and started off into the darkness, holding Rosa's hand tightly. He decided to make his way through the woods rather than the relatively open terrain near the mountains. 

"All this is senseless!  Do you have any idea where we are going, Cecil?"  Kain suddenly demanded, stopping abruptly in the middle of a clearing. "We cannot escape forever!"

The word 'escape' rang bitter in the ears of the Paladin -- he was very aware that they had escaped a lot during the last hours and that this was not the way a Paladin like himself or a warrior like Kain should behave. "You're right," He admitted, shooting his friend a nearly helpless look, "but we cannot risk to hurt innocent townspeople. This here has nothing to do with cowardice..." The last sentence nearly sounded like a question.

Kain noticed the doubt which vibrated in his friend's voice and felt sorry at once -- it was clear that Cecil was as discontent withthe situation as he was, but it was also clear that they did not have much choice in this matter.  "I still wonder how they could know where we went to..." Kain wondered, trying to change the subject. "Dawn, you said that Mallack did not know of the cave, right?"

"Maybe he knows more than we all think he does..." Golbez said. The dark-haired wizard was not out of breath, but he was more pale than usual, showing that he, too, had taken his toll from these hours without rest.

"Speaking of that... What did Mallack mean when he said that you were one of them?  I can understand that he wants Dawn alive, but why you?" Kain glared at the wizard.

Golbez's eyes narrowed, though his usual smile did not vanish. "I think you understand very well what he meant, Dragoon…"

"Can this please wait for later!" Cecil interrupted them. Although he, too, was interested in his brother's role in this, they had no time to waste -- already the cracking of twigs and voices, both of townspeople and Mallack's men were audible in the distance. 

"We're in real trouble!" Dawn sounded worried. "They are in the majority!  If we don't find a place to hide, they might easily succeed in encircling us in these woods…"

"So that means that we have to fight..." Edge said in an unusual earnest way. "What should we do, Cecil?"

The Paladin felt how all eyes were directed at him and he swallowed hard. _"I really don't know what to do..."_

"Don't you think that it is a bit... lets say 'inappropriate' to let Cecil decide this? As a Paladin he has to uphold certain moral standards and the slaughter of hypnotized townspeople is probably not one of them..." Golbez remarked. Cecil's head shot around, but as he saw his brother looking at him without hostility in his gaze, he suddenly wondered if Golbez was not just trying to buy time for him.

Dawn took a step towards him, trying to intervene as well. However, the moment she started to speak, her words were drowned by a loud roar, which was deafening within a few moments.

"Sounds like an airship!" Edge tried to shout against the noise.

"We better hide among the trees!" Kain proposed and the group sought shelter in the undergrowth. The trees around them started to shake as a strong wind came up, whirling up earth and leaves from the forest floor.  The friends tried their best to protect their vision. The roar got louder and louder until, at last, the giant hull of an airship came into view, only barely flying over the trees.

"That's the hull of the _Enterprise_!" Cecil exclaimed. "That must be Yang!"

"So we better make ourselves visible." Edge jumped to his feet and started to wave with his arms, at the same time shouting as loud as he could. 

"Won't all this turmoil drag the attention of our pursuers?" Rosa asked.

"Of course, but this way we have at least a possibility to escape," Cecil whispered next to her and got up to join his friend, shouting Yang's name as loud as they could.

"It's no use..." Rydia sighed. "The roar of the airship is too strong!" The ship was still circling over the trees.

"Maybe we could make ourselves noticed with some spell?" Dawn suggested. "How about "Light"?

All eyes centered on Rosa, who, though Cecil had some white magic abilities as well, was still the most skilled white magic user among them.

The blond woman gripped the hand of her husband a bit tighter, but then nodded. "I already caused you enough difficulties in the shrine, so I might as well try to make it up to you."

"That's the spirit!" Kain smiled, while Cecil shot her an encouraging glance.

Rosa took a step forward and raised her arms, preparing for an especially powerful light spell. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she tried to build up her powers and she closed her eyes, trying to get her breath under control.

"_Light_!" She finally shouted, her eyes flashing open. A brilliant light emerged from her fingertips, illuminating the whole clearing and the sky over them with such a brightness that the rest of them had to cover their eyes.

"Did you see that!?" Voices could be heard in woods.

"I hope that Yang has seen the sign as well... Or we're in real trouble..." Kain murmured, looking into the sky.

Suddenly, the airship came into view again, hovering a moment over the heads of the friends before it carefully was maneuvered down and brought to stop in mid-air.

"Cecil! Here you are!" the familiar voice of Yang echoed from the deck of the ship and a ladder was thrown down. "Quickly!" He ushered his friends.  Climbing up the ladder, which was swinging freely in the air, proved to be a dangerous undertaking, but finally everyone was safely boarded the ship.  The voices of their pursuers had reached a dangerous volume by now.

"We have no time to waste - we're being pursued by a mob!" Kain informed Yang. "They have already destroyed our airship!"

"That's why I saw something burning in the woods. It's the reason why I decided to fly over here, although I would have never found you if you hadn't cast light." He frowned. "Are you all right, Rosa? You look pale..."

"We'll tell you everything later, Yang..." Cecil told his friend, shoving Rosa as carefully as possible in the other man's arms. "For now we have to get away from here. I'll take the steer."

The ship took off just in time.  As it had just left the ground, the first arrows flew from the direction of the forest, burying themselves into the wooden hull of the _Enterprise_.

From out of the corner of his eye, Cecil could spot several black knights emerging from the woods, as well as some townspeople, armed with torches. He also spotted the blond head of Sir Samon, who gave a glance towards the airship, then turned around abruptly and motioned his men to follow him, the terrible expression of superiority on his face.

_"He doesn't seem to mind much that we've managed to escape... Either the stone isn't that valuable after all...or he has something else up his sleeve."  _Cecil steered the ship high across the trees and went at full speed, soon having reached a relative safe distance from Tororia.

"That was a narrow escape, my friends..." Yang sighed. "You were lucky that Cid finished repairing the _Enterprise _more quickly than expected. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to return from Fabul that fast."

"How are things faring in your kingdom?" Cecil asked, nearly scared toask this question.

Yang consoled him. "Everything is all right - there are no unusual rumours or complains going on in Fabul -- except for the complaints of my wife that I seem to spent more time in Baron than with her!" The King of Fabul laughed, though no one seemed to be in a funny mood beside him.

"From the mob that followed you I presume that you weren't successful?" Yang asked, noticing the unusual depressed atmosphere around him. 

"Exactly. We're involved with a very dangerous enemy," Cecil informed him and explained to Yang what had happened. He also mentioned Dawn's connection to Mallack, but Yang did not seem to mind that fact, much.

"To have someone in our midst who knows the enemy that well could even turn out to our advantage..." he smiled towards the silver-haired woman, then took the time to embrace Rosa. "It surely has been a shock for you to see your father. But I'm sure that he will be fine," he told her in his usual calm, reassuring way, making the young woman look happier.  

"What are we going to do now?" Edge asked, offering Rydia his cloak. The caller, who was shivering due to exhaustion and the cold of the night, accepted it gladly.

"I'm worried about Baron..." Cecil said, his forehead creased with a frown. 

Golbez was watching him intently from the side. "You're right.. We saw what happened to the townspeople in Tororia and in Baron things were in a tumult when we left."

"Do you really think that the citizens of baron will get as aggressive as the ones in Tororia?" Rosa asked.

Her husband sighed. "I don't know, but after what we saw and heard tonight, we have to fear the worst. This is no ordinary enemy. They're trying to bring us to ruins by using our own people against us... And Baron might not be any safer than Tororia."  

_"Especially since I kept secret things like the appearance of Golbez from them..."_

He caught sight of his brother, who was watching him, very calmly.  _"So maybe he was right after all - perhaps I should have taken more care where to set my priority while ruling.."_ Cecil thought darkly as he steered the ship towards the horizon, which was now bathed in a greyish light, as if the sun would not rise at all. For once, he did not look forward to returning to his Baron, as his home might not prove shelter, and possibly hold even more problems for them...


	13. Chapter 12: Of mothersinlaw and other da...

**12.**

_Of mothers-in-law and other dangers_

Finally, the familiar meadows and autumn-coloured woods of Baron came into view.

"From up here, it looks as peaceful as ever..." Rydia remarked. "Although in Tororia it looked not that different at first, and then we got chased out of town..."

"That's why we cannot be careful enough.  Don't you think that it would be a good idea to land the airship away from the town, Cecil?" Golbez asked, investigating the landscape below with an unusual nervous look in his eyes.

"Yes..." the Paladin replied rather curtly, although he was watching with interest Golbez's recent behaviour. Though his brother still tried to keep up his cool and mocking attitude, it was evident that something was bothering him since they had met Mallack.  _"Could the Dark Paladins have something to do with Golbez's appearance?"_

Cecil landed the airship carefully on a field outside of town.  "Someone has to stay here - Edge, Rydia, would you stay behind and guard the ship until we've found Cid?" He asked, expecting words of protest from the caller.

To his surprise--and to Edge's as well--the caller agreed. 

"All right -- we all have to make our sacrifices..." Edge grinned; obviously he was happy that Rydia had not lost her sharp tongue when it came to him. 

The rest of the group started to walk in direction of the town.  "It feels so strange to sneak into our fair Baron like this..." Rosa whispered sadly.

"Yes, like we were criminals..." Her husband added. A terrible sense of foreboding filled him as they approached the town and he felt reminded of the days when he had been a Dark Knight and the people of Baron had feared him. _"Is it all starting anew?"_

Dawn fell in step next to him. She seemed nearly her usual self once moreand even could find the strength to cheer up her friends and help with her advice again. Like she had read the Paladin's worries, she told him: "Whatever happens, Cecil, always remind yourself that the people might not know what they are doing. Mallack's magic is very strong..."

"Yes, I know." The Paladin nodded; still doubts were roaming his mind - doubts whether some action by him would not have been able to prevent all this. He glanced at Golbez, who was deep in thought, his gaze fixed on the silhouette of Baron's houses, which came into view, slowly. 

"Everything seems to be normal..." Kain stated as they approached the town gate. In fact Cecil's doubts proved to be needless, for there were no riots on the streets and the townspeople were following their daily duties as usual. The only thing Cecil noticed was that the streets were not as bustling as usual, but he presumed that this could as well have to do with the cold weather. Some people bowed as they saw the group approaching, and spotted their King and Queen among it. However, as Golbez passed them, his long black cloak trailing behind him, some people started to whisper and exchanged nervous glances.

"They're just curious of who you are..." Cecil told his brother, though he himself knew that he was playing down the situation way too much. Golbez obviously thought the same thing, but just raised an eyebrow and continued his way.

"Huh.  Am I glad!" Rosa breathed out, relieved, and placed a hand on her heart as if to slow down its beating. "And I thought we would get chased again.  Seems to me that the citizens of Baron--" 

Suddenly a scream rang through the streets. 

"I told you to go away!" A high-pitched female voice yelled.

"Mother!" Rosa gasped, letting go of the hand of her husband and running in direction of her former home. 

"Rosa! Wait!" Cecil pursued her at once, as well as the others - only Golbez followed the group without much haste.

"Mother!  Is everything all right?" Rosa had reached the house her mother lived in by now. 

"And now leave my home at once!"  Margaret's voice rang once more -- suddenly the front door was pushed open and a man stumbled out of the house.  Panic was written on his face as he stumbled towards them, swaying slightly. Rosa was only barely able to get out of his way -- the man crashed into Cecil instead.

"Slow down now!" the Paladin caught the man, surprised.

As the man looked up, sweat appeared on his forehead and his expression became even more panic-stricken. 

"Your...your Majesty..." He blubbered, "please excuse me..." The man grinned desperately, freed himself out of Cecil's grip and ran away.

"What was that just now?" Kain panted, approaching his friends.

"I have no clue..." Cecil wondered.  For a moment he thought about pursuing the strange man, but just now, Margaret's haggard face appeared in the doorframe of her house. 

"I told you I'm not buying anything at the door!" she shouted, her voice so shrill that some townspeople stopped, frozen in their movement for a moment.

"Mother!  Is everything all right?" Rosa stared at her with big eyes.

Margaret's head turned sideways, surprised. "Rosa!?  What--" Just now she realized that Rosa was not the only person standing before her door.  Her gaze fell on Cecil and she looked tohim adversely as usual.  "Oh... My dear son-in-law obviously has taken the trouble to pay me a visit..."

"Is everything all right, Ms. Farrell?" Yang stepped forward, thus saving his friend from having to talk to Rosa's mother.

"No - nothing is all right!" The elderly woman snapped, fixating her eyes onCecil again. "One of those traveling merchants pestered me again!  I told this rude fellow several times that I wouldn't buy anything, but he just did not want to go away! What do we have a King for if he cannot take care that such a person leave alone respectable citizens like me?"

"Err...that..." Cecil stared wordlesslyat his mother-in-law.

Behind him, Dawn started to giggle and was soon followed by the laughter of the other friends, the tension leaving the group slowly -- even Golbez was chuckling slightly. Cecil breathed a sigh of relief and managed a grin on his own.  "I'm glad you're fine, Ms. Farrel. We were worried about you..."

"Were you?" Margaret watched him suspiciously out of the corner ofher small green eyes. Then she turned her attention to Rosa. "How nice of you to visit me! After all you left without telling--" 

"Yes, I know, but lets talk about that later..." Rosa interrupted her - though she was relieved that her mother was all right, there was still another heavy burden on her soul.

Margaret seemed to sense this, as well. "Rosa dear. What has happened? You're all pale..." Her voice was suddenly worried and soft as she looked towards her daughter, brushing a golden lock out of her face.

"Mother..." Rosa whispered, her voice nearly failing her. "Father... He's... He's alive..."

Margaret broke into a shrill laughter. "Has your marriage confused your senses?  If that's a joke it's a bad one..." She stopped laughing, as she got aware of Rosa's expression -- the young woman had tears in her eyes, her look desperately begging her mother to believe. 

"But... but Morrison died on a mission for a King several years ago..." Margaret gasped, then --- to Cecil's surprise -- turned her gaze on him as if asking for his opinion in this matter.

"They never found Morrison's body..." The Paladin told her calmly. "He is still alive.  I saw him as well -- there is no doubt that he's your husband."

Margaret's normally harsh features softened, her eyes glassy all of a sudden.  She turned away, as if being afraid that someone could see the tears in her eyes.  "Where...where is he?  Have you brought him with you?" She turned around again, quickly wiping her eyes and looked hopefully at the companions. 

Rosa shook her head, searching for words. "Mother. Father is--" 

Dawn helped her. "Morrison is not here with us, Ms. Farrel," she said gently. "He's in the power of a group of...criminals..."

Margaret gasped and her eyes widened with shock. "Criminals?" 

"Don't worry.  He's well," Cecil lied, taking up Dawn's unspoken suggestion not to shock the woman too much. "And we'll bring him back to you.  I promise." 

Rosa's gaze fell on her husband, as if checking if his last words had been a lie as well. Then she nodded. "Cecil's right. We'll bring father home alive, mother." She embraced Margaret, who returned the gesture gladly, for a moment sobbing quietly into the shoulder of her daughter and stroking her hair.

"I know that this may sound insensible," Kain whispered next to Cecil, "but shouldn't we check the castle as well?"

"You're right." Though most of the uneasiness was gone, Cecil wanted to know for sure if everything was all right.  Besides, Cid had to be informed about the loss of the _Falcon_.  "Rosa, stay with your mother if you wish - we have to go to the castle."

Rosa loosened her embrace and wiped some tears from her cheek. "No, I'm coming with you."

"Me as well!"  Margaret snapped, suddenly her old self again. "I still have some questions."

"But Ms. Farrel..." Cecil tried to intervene, but was stopped by Rosa's gentle voice:

"I'm sure everything will be all right in the castle, so there's no danger in taking mother with us."

"But Rosa. What if--"

"I'm surprised that you're worried about me, boy." Margaret said spitefully. "Would you please tell me what should happen to me in your castle?  Unless, of course, your lazy servants have started to breed insects in the kitchen!"  She smiled sourly. "But even if some giant cockroach would start attacking us, I'm sure that your friend here can protect a fair lady like me..." With these words, she approached Golbez and took his arm.

The wizard froze, his mocking expression changing to one of utter astonishment:

"But..."

"Don't be shy, boy!"  Margaret 's tone was peremptory and left no room for protest**.  **"You look quite strong and capable. You wouldn't turn down a lady asking for help, would you?" she asked. "Lets go!"

Golbez glared at Rosa, though the Queen just shrugged apologizing. "Whatever..." the Black wizard grumbled.  "We should go before more people decide to employ me as their personal bodyguard."  He started off for the castle, feeling visibly uncomfortable with Margaret by his side.  Despite all the stress, the group nearly burst out loud laughing as Golbez turned his back to them.

Their cheerful mood did not stay for long, though. As they had reached the castle drawbridge, a nearly eerie silence greeted them.

"Strange... Where are the guards?" Yang wondered.

"The door is not blocked as well..." Cecil said, carefully pushing the wooden front door open with Kain's help. "Golbez, Yang -- would you please stand guard here until we have checked the courtyard?"  He proposed, not wanting to endanger Margaret. Golbez replied with a grumble, which obviously meantagreement. 

"It's too quiet..." Kain murmured as they entered the castle grounds. Suddenly he got agitated, as a red-haired woman emerged from the castle entrance. "Diane!"

"Kain!"  The woman shouted, approaching the group as fast as she could, her left ankle still limp. Kain caught her in his arms. 

"I'm so glad that you're all right!" His girlfriend smiled and kissed him.

"I thought I told you not to worry about me." Kain grinned.

The red-haired girl looked at him earnestly. "You all arrived at the right time!"

Cecil froze -- had something happened to Baron after all?

"Do you remember the townspeople who had an audience with Rosa before you left? They returned, demanding to speak to the King or Queen, again... For some reason, the guards let them through!  Father is in the throne room right now -- he has been quarrelling with them for quite some time now..."

"Has anyone else entered the castle?" Kain asked her.

Diane shook her head.  "I don't know... I spent my whole time in the throne room, as well..."

Suddenly the big wooden gate to Baron castle closed with a loud bang, followed by a low chuckle.

"So you have returned to your kingdom, King Cecil.  Finally you have decided to follow your ruling responsibilities, isn't it that way?"  A voice boomed.

_"No...not now..."_ Next to him, Cecil saw Rosa gasping with shock, but even without that, he already knew in his heart whom he would have to face, as he turned around slowly. 

"You should take more care protecting your Kingdom..." Morrison smiled evilly as he emerged from a dark corner of the castle walls.  He no longer wore his black armour, but black silk like Mallack had worn.  However, his appearance was not less fearful than before as the strangely dead features of his face and his lifeless eyes were a horrible sight to behold.

"Father..." Rosa could only whisper.

Morrison stared at her with blank eyes, not reacting on her words.  Instead, he took the sword from his back without any haste. "I don't know why you didn't kill me as you had the opportunity tolast time, but I fear that this will not save you from destruction now... So who wants to face me first?  Or do you prefer to face me all at once?"  He taunted.

Kain drew his spear; Cecil laid his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Rosa had watched the whole scene with horror. "Stop this!" she finally said and took a step towards Morrison, extending her hands.  "Father!  Snap out of it!  Whatever Mallack did to you -- don't you recognize your family?  Your own daughter?"

Morrison chuckled. "So -- you want to tell me that I havea family?" 

"Yes! You're Morrison Farrel, former knight of Baron..." Rosa continued, staring into the eyes of her father with such intensity, as if she wished that her gaze alone would break the evil spell on the man before her.  "Several years ago you left for a mission for the King on ship, but the ship sank.  They never found a trace of you.  We thought you were dead!"  Tears were welling up in Rosa's eyes. 

Morrison looked at her, coldly. "It is true that I don't remember much about my past.  But I'm sure that I would remember having a daughter such as you, my dear Queen of Baron: a young lady, seemingly naive, but being as corrupt as everyone else living in her castle!" 

"What?" Rosa stared at her father in shock, putting a trembling hand over her mouth.

"That's enough!"  Cecil shoved his wife gently aside.  "I will not allow you to talk to my wife and your own daughter in such a fashion!  Can't you see, Sir?  Mallack put a spell on you -- the only corrupt one is your master!"

Morrison chuckled, bringing himself into attack stance. "_Sir_?  Oh...so you're trying to lull me with words as you do with your people, King Cecil..." Morrison's expression changed to one of utter disgust. "You and your followers have long enough decided the fate of people.  Through your self sacrificialfight against Zeromus you have well managed to get the whole planet in your hands.  But times are changing and people are waking up, so you should accept and understand that it is time for a change of power.  People are tired of you and your Lunarian friends."

"No one of them ever told the people what to believe in!" Dawn said, calmly, her hand ready to draw her weapon as well.  She had watched Morrison the whole time -- Rosa gave her a hopeful look, but Dawn shook her head**;** obviously there was nothing she could do.

"Their pure existence is already worse enough, Lady Dawn... Mallack was right -- you have changed.  Though not for the better it seems. Have you been manipulated by their false promises as well?"  Morrison asked.

"We never made promises to anyone!"  Kain shouted. "And what about you?  We saw how you manipulated the people with those strange black stones!  Is that the kind of future you're dreaming of?  To rule a nation of mindless slaves?"

Morrison's face darkened. "Mindless? You're all so sure of yourselves, you don't even know what you're talking about!  I'm growing tired of you.  Mallack wanted some of you alive, but I don't care for that anymore..." He raised his sword and stormed forward without any warning.

"Hiyaa!"  Dawn was the first to cross her delicate silver blade with Morrison's two-handed sword. "Wake up!  Look deep into yourself!"  She stared at him, intently.

Morrison watched her without humour. "Your tricks won't work with me, witch!  Mallack warned me!"  With a swift motion, he knocked her rapier aside, the impact of the blow sending Dawn to the ground. 

"You won't get away this time!"  Cecil drew his sword 

"Don't..." Rosa caught his arm.

"I don't want to kill him..." Cecil consoled her. "But we can't let him hurt our friends!"

Rosa nodded, pale, her own hand laying trembling on a dagger at her side, as she had lost her precious bow in the shrine in Tororia.

_"I'm not sure whether we could kill him... He's much too strong..."_ the Paladin thought as he dealt his enemy the first blow. With a laugh, the knight blocked it with ease and, with a step forward, outmaneuvered Cecil. The Paladin stumbled sideways, brushing some of his long, snowy hair out of his eyes**;** he could not believe that the swordsmanship of the Black Knight was so much better than his own.

"I'm going to get help!"  Diane shouted, trying to run for the castle as fast as she could with her sprained ankle -- with an exceptional speed the black knight was at her side, at once.

"Wrong direction, my dear!"  The Knight grinned and raised his sword.

"Yes, wrong direction for _you_!"  Kain came flying from above, his lance burying into Morrison's right shoulder.  Rosa screamed as the knight whirled around, her father's features full of pain, Kain's lance loosening from his back and falling to the floor with a clatter.

"Oh...worried about me?"  Morrison groaned, his sword still in his hands. "Do not fret -- an act of such a coward will not bring me down..." He shifted the weapon to his left hand and took a blow at Kain.

"I'm not a coward!" the Dragoon replied angrily, drawing his short sword to block the blow above his head.  With a screeching noise, his blade broke in two, thus leaving Kain unarmed.

"But of course you're a coward, my dear Dragoon..." Morrison smiled, driving the blond man backwards with his sword. "Claudius told me about you. Until the end, you cowardly denied the true motifs that made you betray your friends back then.  It's not only that you loved Rosa, but also that you were an outsider -- always the second choice, while your friend was the first. In love, in rank...  Even now, look at yourself: ex-dragoon! You have no home except the battlefield and even that leaves your heart hungry!  

"Don't tell me that you never did crave for the splendour and fame your friend achieved by becoming Paladin? Who is talking of you? You're the bad guy and your Paladin's friend's the good one.  It makes you sick, but you're too cowardly to do something about it -- too cowardly to accept your real feelings and use the strength of them.  That's why Claudius did not succeed in getting you on our side.  The truth is that it's not Dawn who saved you, but your own weakness!  You're also too weak to fight against your dark feelings forever and this will bring you to our side!" 

"I will not listen to your foul lies!"  Kain hissed, his features twisted with anger. "I may have felt like an outsider, I may have been jealous of Cecil, but these times are long gone!  I'm leading my own life now and it's neither worse nor better compared to the one Cecil or my other friends lead -- we all have our burden to carry, as well as we all have our strengths." A power not known to himself surged up in him and he continued, a nearly triumphant smile on his lips, "and even if my dark side would resurface again, if I was really too weak to prevent it, I would fight against it a thousand times.  The "truth" you spoke about is as false as your promises to the people.  I've seen the _real_ truth in myself long ago: I've seen a way to overcome my dark side!" 

"Very well... Then die with that knowledge!" Morrison punched Kain in the stomach with his hurt arm; the blow still powerful enough that it smashed Kain against one the castle walls.

"Kain!" Dawn and Cecil both had recovered by now, their weapons ready to attack; even Rosa had drawn her weapon.

Kain wiped some blood from his mouth and jumped to his feet rather quickly, his gaze locking with Cecil's for only a second. "No, this is my fight..."

The Paladin nodded and without a moment of hesitation he threw his own sword 'Legend' wordlessly towardshis friend.  Kain caught it surprised, for a moment nearly hesitating to touch it, as if he feared that the sword's holy energy might burn him. He gave Cecil another unsure look, but the Paladin just smiled.  Morrison had stopped in his attempt to hurt Kain and was watching the scene with amusement. 

"Oh, trying to kill the evil Black knight with the holy sword?  How holy can a sword be that was once wielded by a Dark knight, darker than anyone else before him..." He laughed and then turned his back to Kain, fearlessly. "Try if you dare."

"I'll teach you to mock me and my friends!" Kain stormed forwards, sword tightly in his hands and jumped high in the air, the blade pointing down at Morrison exposed neck. In the back of his mind he heard Rosa screaming, but he knew that he could not listen to her -- the man before him was just too dangerous. He heard the voice of Cecil as well, telling him to be careful and it made him feel proud that the Paladin had entrusted 'Legend' to him.  He would not disappoint his trust.  His shimmering blade had nearly reached Morrison's neck now, the point of the sword an inch away from the other's skin, as he heard Diane's heart-shattering scream:

"Kain!  No!" 

Never in all his life had Kain heard such a scream -- it was full of despair and terror and seemed to reach out to his very heart, filling it with panic and desperation. The recklessness with which he had attacked before crumbled now to insecurity, his hands started to tremble, and in his mind he started to ask himself if his actions were right. He tried pull himself together, but it was too late: the blade missed Morrison's neck by an inch... Kain caught Diane's gaze as his feet touched the ground again -- she was looking at him with big eyes, her features full of shame.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I saw that change in Morrison's face as you attacked him and suddenly--"

"Didn't I tell you?" The Black knight hissed and with a terrible motion, whirled around and sent a completely unprepared Kain to the ground with a blow. "Seems you're too weak to carry the 'burdens' you spoke of..." He said disparagingly, ramming his sword deep into Kain's shoulder.

"_No_!" Diane, Cecil and the others tried to come to the aid of their friend, who lay on the ground, wincing.

With obvious joy, Morrison slowly removed the metal blade from Kain's shoulder, watching with satisfaction how the features of the blond man twisted in pain.  Raising his sword once again, he stared fearlessly at the others who were approaching him from all sides.

"Too late!"  He chuckled and prepared for a final attack, this time aiming at Kain's heart.

"_Nuke_!"

With a loud noise, wood splintered and the big double door of Baron castle was catapulted out of its hinges, only to crumble to dust a few seconds later. Morrison stopped in his action, surprised.

"This was rather inelegant, but the door was clearly in the way..." The tall figure of Golbez appeared in the doorway. 

"Oh... It's our chosen one..." Morrison licked over his dry lips. "But it's not your turn, yet.  I'll just finish--"

"Morrison?" Margaret stepped out from Golbez's shadow, pale as a ghost. "Is... Is it you?" Her eyes fell on the bleeding figure of Kain on the floor. "What...what have you done?"

For a moment, Morrison's expression showed the slightest hint of confusion. Dawn and Cecil used this moment to sprint towards Kain, building a protective wall before their friend.  They were joined by Yang, who had entered the courtyard through the broken door as well and had at once noticed the seriousness of Kain's situation.  They were just in time, as the blank and cold look returned to Morrison rather quickly.

"So you've managed to distract me... Very well. The Dragoon can wait until later -- I don't have the time to indulge in any more bloodshed right now.  Sir Samon will take care of you, anyway. Enjoy your last hours!" He smiled cruelly and made a dash for the castle exit.  For a moment it seemed as if Kain wanted to step into his way, but as he caught the Black Knight's gaze, he backed away, letting the other pass.

"Morrison!"  Margaret whispered weakly, trying to follow the black knight, but Golbez caught her arm wordlessly, holding her back. 

"There's nothing you can do for him right now, Milady..." he said darkly, then left the erratic breathing elderly woman alone, approaching his brother and the others who had assembled around Kain.

"By Asura... Kain, I'm so sorry... It's all my fault..." Diane sobbed, kneeling next to her lover.

Although he was in pain, Kain was still conscious. "It wasn't your fault.  I'm the one to blame -- I acted rashly and recklessly..." He tried to get up, but failed to do so and fell back to the floor with a little cry of pain.

"It doesn't matter who's at fault or not.  Fact is that your wound looks bad," Cecil said next to him, his voice thick with worry. 

"Ah... It's only scratch..." Kain tried to grin, but winced as Cecil helped him into a sitting position.

"Doesn't look that way me," Rosa said, carefully ripping the blood soaked cloth of Kain's shirt from his shoulder. "It went nearly through to the bone..." she said and quickly cast a heavy cure spell to stop at least the worst bleeding. 

"Morrison will pay for what he did to you..." Cecil murmured, but stopped cursing as he felt Rosa's gaze on him. "Rosa... I..."

Rosa shook her head, her eyes dropping to the floor, sadly. "No...it's all right.  Right now we really should concentrate on Kain and not on my father.  It will take more than magic to heal Kain's wound, but I cannot treat him here.  We need to get him into the castle..."

"All right.  I just hope that we won't meet any more of Mallack's men inside the..." Cecil said gravely, then together with Yang's help, heaved Kain up as gently as possible, carrying him into the castle...


	14. Chapter 13: It's good to be King?

_Author's notes: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! It's been a long time since the other two parts were posted, so I already feared that no one would be interested, anymore! __Oh, and a note about Kain: He was meant to behave a bit friendlier – he's that way since he's together with Diane... __But things can still change… ;)_

**13.**

_It's good to be King...?_

As the group entered the castle, they were greeted by silence; no guards were to be seen and the building looked like it was deserted. They quickly carried Kain into one of the guestrooms.

"The castle is much too empty for my taste..." Cecil murmured, torn between worry for his people and his friend Kain, who laid on the bed, his breathing shallow.

"Then you should check things out..." Rosa said, while she searched in a cupboard for some clothes to bandage Kain's wound. "Dawn, you possess some knowledge about the art of healing as well, right? Would you help me?" 

"Certainly."  The silver haired woman answered without hesitation. "We need some water."  As she wanted to leave the room, she caught sight of Ms. Farrel who was leaning upon the doorframe, a look of utter confusion in her eyes. "Ms. Farrel, why don't you take a seat? You're looking exhausted."  She shoved the woman gently, but resolutely, toa chair. 

"I want to help as well..." Diane sobbed, sitting on a chair besides the bed and stroking Kain's hair. 

"But you are already helping me..." Kain murmured and gathered all his strength to reach for Diane's hand. "You're here with me..."

Cecil gave Kain a worried look before he motioned Yang and Golbez to follow him.  "We better look for Cid..."

The castle corridors were deserted as well.  However, as the three men approached the throne room, sounds of a loud argument were audible -- one of the voices unmistakably being Cid's.

"What's going on there?" Cecil motioned Golbez and Yang to stay behind. Quickening his steps, he pushed open the double doors to the throne room, rather upset. 

Cid was standing in the middle of the room, arguing loudly, his face flushed with anger. He was surrounded not only by some citizens of town, but also by several guards and maids of Baron Castle. As the King of Baron entered the room, the argument stopped and everyone looked at him, surprised.

"What is the meaning of this uproar?" Cecil demanded, his tone rather loud and commanding, and unlike the way he normally spoke to his people. 

"Cecil!" Cid's voice was a mixture of worry and relief. "These people here insisted onspeaking with you and the guards just let them through!"

The townspeople looked upon their kingwith a rather sullen expression, although no one dared to speak.

Cecil's scowl shot to one of the guards: "Why aren't you on your post?"

"Oh...your Majesty... The request of the people sounded urgent and we couldn't possibly leave them standing in the cold!  We thought that this would be in your interest as well..." The guard said sheepishly, the unusual rough tone of his ruler unnerving him. "We thought that the castle would be safe even if--" The man finally got aware of the slightly disarranged attire of his Liege. "Are you well, Your Highness? You look like you just had a battle..." The guard seemed to slump down inwardly, as he probably knew to what this discussion would lead to.****

"Your observation is right..." Cecil's voice was still sharp. "In fact we just had a battle in the castle courtyard _you_ were supposed to guard!  Kain Highwind got hurt quite badly..."

A murmur went through the guards and some bowed their heads, ashamed.

"What?  Kain is hurt?"  Despite his dislike towards the Dragoon, Cid looked worried.

"He'll survive... Rosa is taking care of him right now," Cecil informed him as calm as he could.  His expression became upset once more, as he focused his attention back on the guards.

"You still have not answered my question!" Although the Paladin doubted that the guards would have been able to stop Morrison, it worried him that they had just neglected his order.  _"In these dangerous times, carelessness could mean our doom..." _"Didn't I give the give the order to let no one into the castle why we were away?" He motioned towards the townspeople.

A young officer of the watch cleared his throat. "Your Majesty -- please listen to what the people have to say... Perhaps then you will understand why we let them through..."

"Is that so?" Cecil frowned, but as he saw the pleading look on the faces of his people, his expression softened. _"It is my duty as King to listen to the worries of my people..."_ Also, as he had not spent much time in Baron lately, the last public audience lay back quite some time, as well...

"Very well," he said, his voice more gentle now. "What matter is so urgent that you had to enter the castle in such a way?" 

Having the chance to bring their wishes forward, the townspeople exchanged triumphant glances and started to whisper with each other.  Finally, a middle aged woman stepped forward and curtseyed. "We did not mean to cause you any problems or act disrespectfully, Your Highness -- we just wanted to warn you. We have the feeling that you do not know of the great danger in your midst..."

Cecil knew at once what the discussion was leading to. _"It seems that Golbez's warnings and doubts were justified after all..." _Still, he tried to maintain countenance. "And this great danger would be?"

"This black-haired stranger that's living in the castle for some time now.  We know that he has evil intentions!"

Cecil tried to appear as calm as possible. "I can assure you that you don't have to worry about him. I'll explain about--"

"You don't have to explain about him!" A man interrupted him, loudly, no longer caring that he was in the presence of a King. "We know that he is Golbez!"  His outburst was followed by an upheaval under the other townspeople, guards and castle servants, and everyone starting to talk at the same time.

Just in that moment Yang, followed by Golbez, entered the room. "Cecil, is everything alright? The argument seems to have gotten louder..."

As the people spotted Golbez, an even louder commotion broke out. "There he is!" At once some of Baron's citizens were rushing at him, two guards in tow, who pointed their lances at the throat of the black-haired man. Golbez froze in movement and held up his hand in surrender, grinning quizzically. "Seems that _I _wasthe reason of the argument..."

"Have you all lost your minds?!" Cecil approached the guards and slapped away the points of the lances with one hand. "You know him!"

The Paladin was sure that most of the castle guards had suspected from the beginning that Golbez was the master wizard who had overtaken Baron, but no one had ever complained openly about Cecil's decision to let Golbez stay as a guest in the castle. _"Or did they just not dare?" _Cecil got more and more aware that the unusual authoritarian behaviour he was displaying lately was unnerving the people.

"Your Highness, we have reason to believe that this man here is tricking you and is trying to overtake the Kingdom!" With slight hesitation, the guards pointed their lances at Golbez, again. "We're just trying to protect you and Queen Rosa!"

"Your worry about the Kingdom does you credit, but what you say is nonsense." Yang now joined into the conversation.  "This man here has been living in this castle for several weeks now, and has done nothing to earn your mistrust!  In contrast..." He faced the townspeople. "Haven't you seen that he was the one who closed the Serpent Way in order to save Baron from the monsters?"

"That's only part of his plan!  He only protected us in order to gain your trust -- the monsters could even be his work!  Since the time the Lunarian moon and he has turned up, the amount of foul creatures is increasing day by day!  That's how it started as well, as he invaded Baron back then!"

Once more, a loud and roused discussion broke out amongst the people.

"Don't deny it your Majesty!"  A maid pleaded.  "We know where this man came from: we all can see the moon in the sky!  That can't be a coincidence -- he must be Golbez!"

"Yes..." a man agreed. "Can't you understand that we're afraid, Your Majesty?  The town gets attacked by monsters, then this stranger appears and you don't inform us of anything! Aren't we trustworthy enough to know of certain things?  Aren't we the people you promised to protect?"

Each of the words stunglike a burning needle in Cecil's torn soul, but he still tried to sound calm:  "Yes -- I promised to protect you.  That's why I can assure you that I would have told you anything of importance--"

"But for us it is important to know if this man is really Golbez!  Or have you already become part of his dark plans that you won't tell us the truth?"  A young man demanded.

"Listen--" Cecil started, but was interrupted by Golbez's dark voice.

"We should stop with this game now, Cecil..." Without fear, Golbez reached for the lances pointing at his throat and pushed them aside with ease, giving him space enough to take a step forward. The people around him backed away a bit, afraid.

"Everything your King did was only for your well-being.  If you're looking for the reason of the recent happenings, feel free to put the blame on me.  I'm in fact Golbez, although I can assure you that I have no plans of taking the world over or anything similar to that.  At least none _I _know of..." Although his words were ironic, his voice was earnest. 

For a moment, the townspeople did not know what to do, nearly surprised that the dark- haired man had so willingly revealed his identity.  Then the weapons of not only two, but several guards were directed at the wizard, again.

"You are arrested!" One guard said with a slightly trembling voice.

"That's enough!"  Cecil exclaimed, barely able to contain his anger and despair about the situation at hand. "In which name do you arrest him?  Surely not in the name of Baron." He turned to the townspeople. "And what about you?  Accusing me of not telling you of Golbez's identity, but look at yourself!  Had I told you before about him, would you have reacted in another way other than what you are doing now?  With what right do you accuse and arrest him?" 

"With the right that you, as well, can give us no other explanation concerning the recent happenings!" The middle aged woman from before replied stubbornly.

"If this is your only worry, I can inform you that we already have a suspect..." Cecil retorted. "It's a group called--"

"The "Dark Paladins". We know about them, Your Highness." One guard said quietly.

Cecil and his friends nearly stopped breathing. "How...?" Yang was speechless.

"During your absence we had a visit from an official of Tororia," One guard started to explain. "He had an urgent message for you, but as he was in a hurry and wouldn't wait for your return, he gave it to us, instead. The Dark Paladins are only a peaceful group -- through false accusations and reports you should be made to believe that they are behind the recent happenings. You should get distracted from the real culprits and their plans: The plan of Zeromus to overtake the Blue Planet once again with the help of his slave Golbez!"

Cecil could not believe what he had heard and decided to forget about Royal etiquette. "Have you lost your mind?  How can you believe such things?  Zeromus was destroyed!" He told the guard.  

_"The townspeople can't be under a spell, can they?"_

An argument whether Zeromus was dead or not broke out, until a young man addressed Cecil once more. "We would like to believe and trust you, Your Highness, but we are not the only ones fearing that lately your judgment is not as objective as it used to be.  Until you cannot show us real proof that the Dark Paladins are a danger, we demand that the black mage Golbez is confined to the dungeons!" 

"The only one getting arrested here is you, if you don't leave the castle at once!" Cid snarled.  "You're accusing your King of treachery!  Aren't you ashamed?"

Though some of the guards looked down, the townspeople persisted on their request. "This is nothing against our rulers--we want to protect their lives as well as our own ones. You probably wouldn't arrest us for wanting to protect this country, would you, Your Highness?"  A woman asked.

Cecil studied the people before him -- they had become quiet and were watching him, some fearfully, some sullenly, others blankly, but everyone was wondering if their King would really order the guards to arrest them.

_"The woman is right... I cannot arrest my own people... I left them uninformed and alone with their fears and now they have decided to take the matter into their own hands... But to follow their wishes would mean..."_

He gave a help searching look towards Yang and Cid, but both were looking at him with desperate expressions and were at a loss of words as well. Cecil's gaze locked with one of the guards, a normally very dutiful Lieutenant -- the man was shaking his head, as if to tell him that he would not follow an order to arrest the townspeople. Golbez seemed calm and was watching every change of expression in his brother's face with attention.

_"So... It seems it all depends on me now... There's only one way out of this mess..."_  "Very well..." Although the young King of Baron had a lump in his throat which nearly seemed to suffocate him, he exclaimed with a firm voice:

"I believe that I have to apologize to you.  Perhaps my judgment concerning the recent happenings has indeed been clouded... But I will not permit, that this "confusion" on my side, destroys the trust of Baron's citizens.  As a proof, I will grant your wish and hereby order that this man here, Golbez, be arrested.  He is to be confined in the dungeons until we have reason to believe that he isn't responsible for the crimes you accuse him of."

Cheering broke out through the crowd oftownspeople.

"But Cecil..." Yang and Cid stared at their friend, their mouths wide open in surprise.Cecil held up his hand slightly, motioning them to stay silent, then faced Golbez, his expression full of sorrow. The guards stared at their king, obviously surprised by his sudden change of mind as well.

"Didn't you hear the order of your liege?" Golbez asked, his lips curved into a smile, the expression of his eyes inscrutable.  "Haven't I told you that your King wants only the best for you?  So what are we waiting for?  You know how to get to the dungeon, don't you? Or shall I lead the way?"

The guards ignored the jesting of the wizard and turned their attention on Cecil, instead. "Very well Your Majesty -- you have made the right decision!" They exclaimed and led Golbez out of the room with drawn weapons.  Cecil swallowed hard, as he watched his brother leaving the room under the escort of the guards.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Some townspeople approached him, happily. "We knew that we could rely on you after all..." 

A maid curtseyed before him. "I'm going back to work now, Your Majesty."

"And we will go back to our posts!" The guards stated. "We're sorry for what happened to Sir Kain, but we could not turn down the townspeople... We will not leave our posts without your consent again..."

Cecil nodded and dismissed them with a slight motion of his hand.  One guard stayed and approached him, sheepishly.  "Please forgive me for not telling you sooner, but this message reached Baron just this morning." He pressed a sealed letter into Cecil's hand and left.

"Cecil.  Do you think that it was the right decision to arrest Golbez?" Cid asked since everyone except for him, Cecil and Yang had left the room. 

Cecil's face depicted the harsh decision he had just made and he ran a nervous hand through his long hair. "I saw no other way out in that moment.  Although my people do not seem to be under a spell of Mallack, they are easy prey for his beliefs in the state of mind they were in. I had to prevent them from loosing even more of their trust in me..."

He became aware of the envelope in his hand and hastily broke the seal. As he scanned the contents of the letter, his expression became more and more serious.

"The townspeople will loose their trust in me, soon enough..." He murmured, letting the letter sink down.

"What do you mean, Cecil?" Yang asked. "Why will there loose their trust?"

"I have made a decision... We have to act - lets get back to Rosa, Kain and the others - there I can explain everything to you..." Without giving his friends time to protest, Cecil left the room.

Cid and Yang exchanged glances, not knowing whether the sudden determination of their friend should calm or frighten them...


	15. Chapter 14: Fool for love

**14.**

Fool for love

"How is Kain?" Cecil asked upon entering the room.

"We treated the wound as best as we could, but he won't be able to use his arm properly for some days..." Dawn informed him, wringing out a wet cloth over a bowl.

Cid was studying Kain skeptically. "That's quite an injury you're having there, boy..." Next to Kain, Diane sobbed slightly. 

"Now, now, girl..." Cid told her gently. "He's alright, you'll see.  Ill weeds grow apace--his sort just goes on forever!" 

"Ill weeds grow apace? You're as concerned for my well-being as always, Cid..." Kain grinned, although worry for Diane was mirrored in his eyes-- it was clear that something occupied the mind of his girlfriend and that this "something" was not only Kain's injury. 

"Good to see you, Cid!" Rosa had just entered the room, carrying some fresh water in a can. 

"I suppose that everything is alright in the castle?"

"Well, we encountered no more of Mallack's men, but we did have a little...argument in the throne room," Yang said, looking at Cecil.

"Did it have to do with the people Diane talked about?" Dawn asked, then suddenly frowned. "Where is Golbez?"

"Well, you see..." Cid started, but Cecil forestalled him, his voice low and calm: 

"I arrested him."

"You did _what_?"  Kain tried to sit up, but noticing that this wouldn't work, resorted to staring at his friend with wide eyes.

All eyes were now upon Cecil with the exception of Margaret, who sat on a chair in the corner of the room, lost in her own thoughts.

"I had no choice," the Paladin explained. "Though none of the people in town seem to be under Mallack's spell yet, they mistrusted Golbez from the first moment and I made the mistake of not informing them..." He shook his head. "Although I'm not sure if that would have helped... Golbez was right when he said that fear was a better adviser than reason.  In order to keep the people of Baron calm until we've planned our next move, I had no choice but to follow their will..."

"At least Golbez will be safe in the dungeon." Kain noticed not without sarcasm.

"So what are we to do next?" Dawn asked.

"We have no choice but to find Mallack... Unless we cannot stop the monster attacks of late or show the people proof that Mallack's men are responsible for all this, there will be no peace for us...  Especially in our own Kingdoms..."

Cecil took forth the letter he had received from the guard.  "This is a letter from Edward - the people in Damycan have started a revolt... They demand that Damycan severs all diplomatic ties to Kingdoms like Baron and Fabul and that important political posts are to be given to members of the Dark Paladins. The population's change of mind is a mystery to Edward -- the people explained that Damycan should become the isolated, but also peaceful desert state it once had been...  As Edward would not give in to their wishes, they have arrested him into his own quarters for the time being -- luckily he was able to give this letter to a servant he still could trust..."

"So we should help Edward." Yang said. 

"This may sound hard, but do you really think that we can just get him out of a besieged castle?" Kain frowned.

"Kain is right..." Dawn agreed. "This could only be one of Mallack's traps... Besides I don't think that the people will hurt your friend -- the people are not thirsty for blood, but in their eyes are onlyfor peace and liberty..."

"So all we can do for Edward's sake is to try to get to the root of Mallack's organization..." Yang remarked darkly.

For a moment, the friends were silent**;** their situation had worsened in a drastic way.

Cecil finally spoke out what everyone seemed to think: "Soon we will have no one to turn to anymore... Tororia and Damycan are under the power of the enemy, Agart is in shambles, Eblana is still too weak to support us and Baron is short of falling into the hands of the enemy as well.  There is only Fabul, maybe Silvera, left..."

"And Mysidia," Dawn added. "There's a fact that bothered me for quite some time now:  Judging from Nathaniel's--I mean Mallack's hate against Lunarians and the crystals, I cannot understand why he would attack the Shrine and the Serpent Way, but has not tried to infiltrate the town by now..."

"Yes - that's indeed strange.  Especially because he already has weakened Mysidia by severing the Serpent Way's connection to Baron..." Yang scratched his chin while contemplating. "Maybe we should see things there, again.  Besides everything began on Mt. Ordeals..."

"Perhaps we will be able to thwart Mallack's plans if we get in Mysidia before him... Also, I would like to ask the Elder some questions about this stone..."  Cecil took out the black stone and carefully removed a layer of cloth around it.  "Somehow it must have powers which strengthen the Mallack..."

"You've bought such an ugly thing as well!?  This explains why these traveling merchants can do as they like in your Baron: the King is their best customer!" Margaret suddenly joined into the conversation.

"You've seen such a stone before, mother?" Rosa sounded agitated all of a sudden.

"Yes - the merchant this morning was wearing such a stone, only smaller, around his neck..." 

"What?!"  The friends exchanged shocked glances. 

"So it has begun here as well..." Cecil whispered. "This means that we should better hurry -- indeed Mysidia could be Mallack's next target and we need to put a stop to his doings once and for all..." 

"But Kain needs rest..." Rosa sighed. "_We all_ need rest..."

Cecil nodded, the stress of the latest happenings written on his face as well. "I know... I believe that our departure can wait at least until tomorrow.  I hope that the situation in town will not worsen too fast... But I'm worried about the airship... After all, it's the last one we have...  And poor Edge and Rydia are guarding it, all alone."

"If you want, I'll go to them..." Cid offered, but then suddenly froze. "What did you just say?  What did you mean with 'it's the last one'?"  His friends paled visibly and started to talk all at once, apologies mixed with explanations.

"I do understand nothing!" Cid finally interrupted them. "Cecil - would you please explain to me what happened?"

"Well...you see...the _Falcon_ was burnt by the townspeople of Tororia..." The Paladin told him as gently as he could.

"What?" Cid stared at him shocked. "My _Falcon_?! My pride?!"

"Cid, please calm yourself..." Rosa approached the elderly man, laying a warm hand on his arm and explained the happenings to him. Cecil wondered how his wife had so soon found the strength again to console others.

"I see..." Cid murmured after Rosa had ended her explanation and for a moment it seemed as if tears were showing in the corner of his eye. "So the _Enterprise_ may be in danger as well, you say?  I better relieve Rydia and Edge right away if that's the case..." He left the room rather hurriedly.

After a moment of silence, Cecil spoke: "I guess everyone of us needs to rest now -- our departure to Mysidia is hopefully the last one... In a positive respect... Ms. Farrel, you might want to stay here in the castle for the time being.  It's safer than the town." For once, Margaret could agree with her son-in-law. 

"We'll show you one of the guestrooms, mother..." Rosa helped the elderly woman up.

One by one the friends left the room

"Cecil, can I speak to you later?" Kain asked his friend.

Cecil nodded. "Sure." He looked at Diane, who seemingly did not want to leave Kain's side. "See you later..." 

Dawn had been watching the couple as well: "Don't be too hard on yourselves.." She smiled and left the room, closing the door carefully behind her.

Diane and Kain stayed behind alone and for several minutes neither of them spoke.  The red-haired girl was holding Kain's hand and was staring across the room, her eyes fixed on a window.  Kain could not bear to look at her -- the way his usual cheerful girlfriend was sitting next to him was nearly breaking his heart.

"Kain..." Diane finally spoke, her lips moving only barely and her voice a mere whisper. "I know I've told you before, but I'm so sorry... As you attacked Morrison I saw his face... His expression suddenly changed.  It was so horrible... As if he knew that you would miss... Though you wouldn't have missed him if...if..." she shook her head, unable to speak any more.

Despite getting reminded of his defeat against Morrison, a warm feeling surged up in Kain -- the feeling that there, next to him, was a person who cared more for him than for herself -- but at the same time, he hated that Diane was behaving like this as it made her suffer. 

"Diane.  It wasn't your fault..." He told her.

"If it wasn't my fault, then why did you miss?" Diane stared at Kain, her big brown eyes full of unanswered questions.

"Because I couldn't stand hearing the panic in your voice... Because I suddenly feared...for my life.  For the first time in my life I thought about what would happen if I'd miss the target.  If I'd died in this battle…" Upon uttering these words disappointment and slight rage about himself surged up in Kain – rage, that he hadn't been stronger. "I thought about you all the time, what would happen to you if I died.  How your life would be--" he hesitated, and Diane completed the sentence in his stead:

"How my life would be destroyed as well... Yes, it would..." Her words were spoken out simple and truthfully, and for some reason did not surprise Kain at all.

"I used to think a lot about us two being together..." Diane said, her eyes resting calmly on her lover. "I used to tell myself that you are a fighter, that I had to accept that you could be facing death everywhere... I thought that I could bear this.  After all, I had to face similar thing once, as my father did not come home from the Underworld and everyone thought that he was dead..." She bowed her head. "As I heard this terrible news about my dad, it hit me like a shock -- it came totally unexpected to me... Back then, I thought that to loose someone so sudden was the worst thing that could happen to one.  But ever since I fellin love with you, I feel that this is not true... I know that every fight could be your last one and as I was standing next to you as you fought Morrison, having to watch all this... I couldn't stand it... I've been trying all this time to be strong; I told myself that you would come back from your mission safely... But although my reason told me that there was no need to worry, my heart could not -- nor can it, now... I'm weak -- I'm just a weak little girl..."

Kain had listened to her intently; each word spoken from her with heartbreaking, serious affection that made his own feelings for her even stronger.  Once more, he realized how much he loved her.  Still, things could not go on like that...

He cleared his throat, knowing that he, too, had to gather together all his courage: "Diane... What you said is not the truth.  You're even stronger than I'm... You at least _tried_ to live with all this, you had the strength to _pretend_ you could live with it... But I... Never in my life there has been a person standing so near to me... And somehow…it hurts.  I always was the only person in my life I had to account to: My life was my own one to live until its last breath.  Don't understand me wrong.  I know that Cecil and Rosa would grieve for me if something would happen, but I know that they, eventually, would get over it... But with you...I cannot stand the thought of leaving you alone..." He searched for words, not being used to talk about his emotions in such a way. "Diane, I.. I feel that my life no longer belongs only to myself,but to _you_ as well."

"That's...that's the same for me..." Diane admitted. "But isn't this how it should be in love?  So then... Why aren't we happy?  Do you think that our love is not strong enough after all?"

Instead of an answer Kain raised his arm and carefully pulled her down.  They kissed for a long time and as they finally broke the kiss, Diane had tears in her eyes.  "I see what you mean.  Maybe our love is too strong..." she whispered.

"And we may be too weak to carryit..." Kain whispered back, a terrible realization filling his mind.

"Yes... But what are we to do about it?  I don't want that such a thing as today happens again..." Uneasiness was creeping over Diane, as well. 

Kain closed his eyes. "I don't know.  Denying our love will just be a terrible lie to both of us."

"Maybe it is better for us to live with a lie we can bear, than with the truth we cannot."

"Do you really think so?"  Kain frowned.

"No..." Diane admitted softly. "But do we have a choice?  I know that you'll leave with Cecil and the others tomorrow... I don't want to be a hindrance to you.  So I'd like...to give you my part of your life back, if you will give me mine.  Lets just pretend that we two were not meant for each other... Though I'm not sure if it will work."

"It may, if we just try to believe in this lie long enough." Kain said, having to hold back his tears – he could not remember the last time he had felt the urge to cry.

"I hope we're not both too bad liars for that..." Diane bent down, kissing him once more. They spent a long time in silence, just enjoying this moment with each other; Kain trying to savour every detail of the girl next to him: Diane's smile, her touch, her sweet scent, her features. 

Finally Diane stood up, straightened her dress and left for the door. "I'm feeling uneasy here in Baron, so I'll probably spend some time at the house of an aunt of mine."

"Yes." Kain nodded, knowing that this 'some time' would probably take longer than expected.

The red-haired girl wanted to leave, but at the doorframe turned around, once more facing her love: "Kain... We don't want to make any more promises, but try to live.  Not for me, but for yourself."

Kain tried to grin, although this seemed to be the hardest moment in all his life: "Yes...you as well..."

Diane nodded. "I'm leaving, then..."

Kain watched her exiting the room. "Take care... Until we meet again..." he whispered, though he knew that this might never happen…


	16. Chapter 15: The freedom to choose

_Author's note: Hey – I got even more reviews! Thanks to everyone! And about the adam's apple thing: I thought that it was only another description for the thyroid cartilage of the larynx… However, it shows prominently in men, but less noticeably in women – that's the reason why it may indeed sound strange… Anyways: Before I have to spend my days discussing the anatomy of humans, I'd better change it  –  I just used it in the first place because it sounded better than larynx… Whew – my readers are really attentive… ;)_

**15.**

_The freedom to choose_

"You should rest a bit, Ms. Farrell.." Cecil told his mother-in-law as he and Rosa accompanied her to an empty guest room. 

"Cecil's right, mother," Rosa agreed, "you look exhausted..." 

"I cannot believe that Morrison...that my dear husband would do such things!" Margaret shook her head, her harsh features full of sorrow -- she was looking afraid and lonely, somehow.

"Your husband is only under a spell..." Cecil tried to console her.

"Only under a spell?  Why didn't you tell me so from the beginning? Why did you lie to me?" Margaret demanded, glaring at him angrily, but also desperately.

"Mother!" Rosa reprimanded her. "We didn't want to upset you too much!" She bowed her head and she began to sob, the pressure of the last hours slowly falling off from her.

"What do you think _I_ felt having to see father like this?!  I was sure that he was dead, and now it turns out that he's alive... But in such...in such a terrible way... He even wanted to kill our friends!" She sobbed harder now, her body starting to shiver. 

"Rosa!" Cecil and Margaret uttered nearly at once. The Paladin laid an arm around his wife to comfort her, while Margaret tookthe hand of her daughter.  As their gazes met, for once there was no hostility in Margaret's gaze towards her son-in-law, but only worry.  Rosa had tried to hide her sorrow as best as she could all this time, but ultimately, she could take no more.

"I'm sorry, my dear..." Margaret said gently. "I was only thinking of myself, forgetting that for you, the situation is hard as well..."

Rosa nodded and swallowed her tears. "It's okay, mother.. Everything will be alright. After all, I don't have to face the situation alone - there's still you and Cecil..." She whispered.  To the Paladin's surprise, Margaret suppressed a cynical remark, but agreed with her daughter.

By now, they had reached the guestroom. "I'll be fine on my own. You seem to need rest more than I do, Rosa," Margaret said, but as Cecil and her daughter were about to leave her, she held them back:

"Cecil, you promised that you would save Morrison.  But after we saw, after _I _saw what has become of him..." She made a little pause, taking a deep breath, "can you still promise it?" 

Her son-in-law turned around slowly. _"What can I tell her?  Morrison nearly killed Kain and did not even recognize his own daughter.  Also, we have no clue how to break Mallack's spell on him..."  _Suddenly he felt Rosa's gaze on him as well. _"As long as we're together, we can overcome any obstacle.  I hope I was right when I said this..."_

"Yes... My promise still stands," The Paladin finally answered, although his voice sounded strained.  

Margaret nodded, wordlessly, and then withdrew to her room, where she just stared out of the window.  Rosa took Cecil's hand and pulled him away from the room.

"Cecil, will mother be safe here?" She asked him anxiously.

"Yes.  I don't think that the castle guards would turn against us.  They're satisfied since I arrested Golbez.  I don't know about the villagers, though.  But it is unlikely that they will be able to enter the castle once more..."

His wife frowned. "Yes, you're right... Still..."

"Cecil!  Rosa!"  Two very agitated voices shouted at once--they belonged to Edge and Rydia, who came running around a corner. "Something terrible has happened!"

"What are you doing here?  I thought you were with the airship?" Cecil wondered. 

"We were..." Edge panted, "Cid is now with it.  But soon after he had arrived, we heard a loud commotion coming from town!"

"In the distance we could spot some townspeople..." Rydia was pale and looked at the Paladin and his wife with wide eyes. "They had torches in their hands and weapons!  We feared that they wanted to damage the _Enterprise_, so Cid decided that it would be safer to move the airship to another place..." 

"I see..." Cecil said gravely, "So it has started here as well.  Where did Cid fly to?"

"He wanted to land in the valley near Mist," Edge informed him.

"What?  But that's behind the caves!  It's a long walk!"

"We know, but the grasslands around Baron are too open.  He had no other chance in order to ensure that the townspeople couldn't follow him." Rydia explained. The young woman hung her head. "I don't understand all this... The good people of Baron trying to burn our airship... What have we done to deserve all this?" 

"Perhaps nothing, or perhaps too much..." Cecil laid a friendly hand on her slender shoulder. "In any case, it seems that we will have to depart sooner than planned.  Probably even tonight.  Please tell all our friends that we'll meet at the castle gates when the sun has set..." He kissed his wife on the cheek.  "And you please try to get some rest..."

"Yes.  But where are you going now?" Rosa asked him, surprised.

"I'm going to tell Kain that we're leaving tonight -- although probably without him," the Paladin said and left for the room where Kain was staying in.  On his way, he suddenly spotted Dawn.  The silver-haired woman was standing at a window, not aware of her surroundings.  _"She's looking lonely... I wonder if it is because of Mallack..." _

He decided to ask her later about these things, for right now he had to inform her about the latest happenings. "Dawn, I have to tell you something important."  He addressed her.  Upon hearing his voice, the young woman jumped a bit, as if she had been deep in her thoughts.

As she turned to face him, though, she showed him that encouraging smile, which the Paladin knew so well.  Her smile vanished as she saw the expression on the Half-Lunarian's face.  "Cecil!  What's the matter?"

"It seems that the townspeople are starting to rebel. So we're leaving not tomorrow, but today after sunset..." Cecil told her.

"Alright.  Then until later..." Dawn fixated the Paladin with her blue eyes. "Oh, and please don't worry about Golbez.  It was the right decision in that moment and he knows that, too.  And he also knows that he will not have to stay in his cell for long."  She winked towards her friend. 

"What?  Oh, yes... Of course..." Cecil was rather put off by Dawn's remark -- he had tried to banish any thought concerning his brother as well as his plans of freeing him as best as he could from his consciousness, but then again, it was hard to hide anything from Dawn.  This fact did not made him feel uneasy, but strengthened the admiration he felt for her.

_"Although she herself has a troublesome past, she still finds the strength to confront herself with the fears and problems of others... I wonder how she can do so…" _He gave Dawn a friendly smile, before he entered Kain's quarters.

The Dragoon was awake, staring at the ceiling.  He turned his head as his friend entered the room. "Hey Cecil, how are things?" he asked.  Kain's voice sounded weak, but Cecil presumed that it had to do with his injury.

"I fear that things have taken a turn for the worse..." The Paladin sighed and explained the situation to his friend in short.

"So we'll meet at the castle entrance. Got it."  Kain said after Cecil had ended his report.

"_We_?"  Cecil frowned.  "Don't tell me that you want to accompany us!  Your wound is--"

"--not that bad.  You have knownme long enough to know that I've had worse injuries..." Kain interrupted him. 

Cecil wanted to protest, but his friend would not let him, "Haven't you heard what Morrison said about me?"  The hissed and anger and hurt pride spoke out of his voice. "That's not a thing that is only your or the other ruler's problem."  He looked at his friend, his gaze nearly desperate.  "I want to see how they manage to manipulate people!  I want to see if it was right what Morrison said about manipulating _me._.. And then I want to stop these Dark Paladins, so that they can never use people again and destroy their lives..."

Cecil understood what Kain wanted to say, but still hesitated to agree to his wish. On the other hand, he knew that holding back Kain from something he wanted, was nearly impossible. He tried it, nonetheless. 

"Alright.  I do understand your motives, but what about Diane?  She was so worried about you when..." He stopped, startled, as he watched Kain's reaction upon hearing the name of his girlfriend.  The blond fighter turned his head away from Cecil, took a deep breath and turned around again, his gaze suddenly hard as a rock.

"Don't worry about Diane..." The dragoon said in a firm voice, his expression cold.  "She's spending some time at an aunt of hers... We just split up..."  

"_What_?" Cecil could not believe what he had just heard and stared at his friend with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "You just split up?"

"Are you deaf?  Yes, just as I said..." Kain snapped, glaring angrily at his friend.  "It's no concern of yours! And if we now could please change the subject..." This time it was Kain's turn to stop in mid-sentence as he got aware of the change in Cecil's expression: the Paladin was looking at him, visibly annoyed.

"No. I'll not change the subject, Kain!" Cecil stated, his tone nearly imperious.  "What you do or decide is of course your own business and if you don't want to speak about your problems, I will have to accept this.  But--" He took a deep breath, then bent forward and looked his friend right into the eyes, with such a serious expression, which made Kain frown. 

"But right now, such secrets could be our doom!"  The Paladin continued empathetically. "Mallack's men are trying to drive us apart!  You saw what they did to Rosa's father, you saw how the townspeople followed his orders!  Darn, Kain -- I even had to arrest my own brother due to his influence on the people!"  His voice got louder. "You know what happened on Mt. Ordeals and you heard that poor Edward is a prisoner in his own castle..." Cecil was nearly yelling at him now.  "And now you tell me that I shouldn't be worried about my best friend splitting up with the women he loves!  Do you think me a fool?"

Kain stared at his friend, speechless.  The last time Cecil had talked to him in such a fashion had been shortly after Kain's return from Mt. Ordeals.  In both cases, Cecil's behaviour had been a clear proof of the desperation the normally calm Paladin was in.  Cecil seemed to have the same thought and he fell back into a chair, looking miserable.  

_"How could I...?"_

"I... I'm sorry, Kain..." he said quietly.

"You look exhausted..." Kain noted dryly and eyed his friend, still frowning.

"Yes... But it's not only that..." Cecil answered, avoiding the gaze of his friend, as he felt ashamed.  "I don't know what's gotten into me to talk to you that way... I'm not my normal self anymore: I'm irritable, can't seem to think clearly, don't behave like I should... Perhaps I'm there, where Mallack wants to have me to... After all, I have been that way since the whole mess started on Mt. Ordeals and I had this serious quarrel with Rosa..."

"Yes... And do you still remember how you shouted at Golbez at the meeting?  And at Rydia and Edge as they wanted to address Kieran to you?"  Kain remarked.

Cecil still did not look up and only nodded, inertly probably cursing athimself. 

"And the quarrel with Margaret during dinner.  And the one with the Mysidian boy in the throne room--you nearly hurt him as you smashed him against the wall..." Kain continued without mercy.

Cecil's shoulders drooped down; a wordless sign that he remembered these things very well. 

"And don't forget about the quarrels we had shortly after I had arrived here..." Kain's voice suddenly had a strange touch to it and Cecil looked up, finally--Kain was looking at him, grinning broadly. 

"Kain.  What are you grinning at me for?"  The Paladin asked his friend, wearily. 

"Of course you are not your usual self lately--no one of us is.  But I just thought that although you might have overreacted a bit on each of these occasions, everything still turned out good in the end."  Kain told him.

"But--" Cecil wanted to protest, but his friend did not let him speak.

"Cecil, you said yourself that Mallack's men are trying to separate us... But look at us - no matter how hard we quarrelled, no matter what happened, we are all still holding together.  Rosa is still at your side, more than ever before, and you even managed to get along with Jonas from what I heard." 

Cecil frowned, but did not go into the presumption more closely, and let Kain speak on, instead.

"Edge, Rydia, Yang and all the others are still fighting together with you -- and don't forget that we too are still friends as well... Don't always look at your faults, but at the right decisions you have made... No one is blaming you if you react a bit exasperated sometimes..." He uttered a quiet laugh.  "Seeing how many problems lie on your shoulders, it's amazing anyway that you still have the strength to shout at your friends like that... And this look of yours as you stared me right into the eyes was really scary!  You should try it out with Samon or this devil Mallack..."

Cecil had to grin, but inwardly he felt so moved by the understanding of his friend, that he hardly could speak. "Kain...I..." 

Kain shook his head.  "Now stop it, Cecil.  And promise me one thing: stop apologizing for everything you do or the things you don't!"

Cecil was still staring at his friend with wide, nearly glassy eyes.

Kain sighed. "Cecil!  Now please don't start to do something stupid like crying or so... I've made enough people cry in my life and adding the ruler of Baron to my list, wouldn't make me very happy... Even more as he's my best friend..."

"Yes.  Best friends... Forever..." Cecil could not help, but smile. Although they had often talked about their friendship since Kain had returned, their oath had never sounded as earnest and true as today.  Kain seemed to feel this, as well and he suddenly got very serious:

"I was always jealous of you, Cecil... Maybe even lately as I noticed that you and Rosa are able to live your life, living your love in a way that Diane and I cannot."  He paused for a moment -- Cecil decided not to ask more questions about Diane unless Kain talked about it out of his own free will. 

"But you said to Morrison that you had overcome this jealousy..." He asked, instead.

Kain nodded. "Yes... And this is true in most respects... I'm not much for too much talk, but there's something I want to tell you: During the last months I learned a lot about myself, but also about you -- although we have been friends for such a long time, I only realized recently that there never was a need to be jealous of you... I used to think that I could never achieve and get the things you could, but I was wrong.  Everything was always in my reach as well, I just didn't reach out for it and it probably was good this way... Seeing the responsibility you had to bear even when you were still Captain of the Red Wings, not to speak of the burden you have to carry now as Paladin and King -- I couldn't take it, and I guess I would not want it as well... I don't know why I ever wanted it in the first place -- maybe it was an illusion as my love to Rosa, a substitute for the things I really wanted, but never had the strength to fight for: a life which is free, which is not manipulated by someone else, be it the orders of a King or an evil might like Zeromus... You and Rosa gave me the opportunity to realize this, as you forgave me and presented me with a second chance.  And Diane, who broke out of her safe little world for the sake of our love, showed me that life gives you the chance to choose the seemingly impossible -- even freedom...." Kain suddenly averted his gaze, some strands of his long blond hair falling into his face and veiling his green eyes. 

"But I also learned that this self-chosen freedom isn't as free as one might think... It brings a lot of responsibility with it in order not to misuse it, like Mallack did for example.  And as I told you, responsibility is something I'm not good at.  I look at you and wonder how you did manage not to break it by now by all the decisions you had to reach in your life.  I still remember how you freed Rosa back then -- instead of killing me right then, you kept a clear head and as such could rescue her in time..." He bit his lip and uttered a sharp laugh.

"Listen to me, it really seems as there's some envy left in me, Cecil... I envy you for your strength because I'm even too weak to bear my love for Diane... I've never loved someone that much before, but we both cannot live with the other.  It's like our feelings for each other is not only taking our breath away, but also our freedom -- as if our love suddenly is the only factor which is deciding our actions and thoughts. That's why I missed Morrison... It could not go on this way, at least not in these dangerous times... So we split up; pretending that our lives belonged to no one but ourselves once more.  Although this is a terrible and stupid lie..."

Cecil had listened intently to his friend and now said gently, his expression full of respect for the other one: "You said that you were not as strong as I am, but this is not true.  You're just about to shape your own life with all the good and bad sides which belong to it... This is something I have failed to do at some point." 

Kain looked at his friend, surprised.  Cecil continued, calmly: "Sure there were some things that happened according to my own will and decisions: my love to Rosa, my decision back then in Mist to disobey the orders of the King... I also do not regret that I became a Paladin and King of Baron, but concerning both things, I'm not sure if I had chosen them, if I had _seen_ a choice... Many things I did or do, I seem to do because something is confining me... This confinement is the will of the people, it's my heritage and of course my past..." 

He shook his head, certain things becoming clear to him, for the first time, "So about what you and Diane decided -- I cannot tell if it was the right decision or if it will help.  But to go against the confinements of your love and to admit that both of you may not be ready yet for such a relationship is something which demands much strength to do. And even more what you said to Morrison and that you dared to wield Legend..." He smiled.

"So I guess now it's my turn to envy you, Kain. You found the strength to overcome your past and decided to live your life according to your own decisions always -- even if this means to endure hard consequences..."

As much as they moved him, the words of his friend also confused Kain. "But what about the consequences my way to lead my life brings for others?"

"I do believe that you will take care of that.  Besides, it was Diane's decision as well..." Cecil replied.

Kain nodded. "Perhaps... Cecil, you cannot fathom what your words mean to me.  Still you should not envy me -- maybe you have chosen more things in your life than you know... One doesn't become a Paladin because one feels responsible to become one -- your father surely knew that, too.  Also be happy that your relationship to Rosa is more blessed..."

"_Now_ I'm hearing jealousy in your voice!" Cecil suddenly grinned and waved a finger at Kain, playfully accusing. "At least Cid will leave you alone for a while, while I still have my dear mother-in-law to get along with..."

Kain's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Speaking of Margaret: isn't it too dangerous for her to stay in the castle?"

"No... Even if some townspeople _should_ manage to storm the castle and should discover her, she would probably start to rant about me like she always does and they'll probably think that she is one their side..." Cecil smirked and both men had to laugh.

"Maybe she'll become nicer if we bring back her husband.  Good that I didn't kill him after all." Kain joked around despite the serious subject.

"If Morrison _wants _to return to his wife... Who knows why he really disappeared during the mission?" Cecil grinned, as well forgetting for a moment the difficult situation they were in.  However, the awareness of this fact returned to both friends soon enough and their expressions turned serious once more. 

"It has been good talking to you, Cecil..." Kain said after a moment of silence. "Like old times... Let's show Mallack that friends can't be separated by some stupid magic trick! 

"Yes.  So until later.  It's your decision to come with us, so I guess I can't do anything against it."  Before Cecil left the room, he added: "Maybe the whole affair will even end good for you...and Diane..."

Kain sighed and let himself fall backinto the pillows. "Or not... The difficult part is not to make decisions, but to know whether they're right or wrong…"


	17. Chapter 16: Escape from Baron

**16.**

_Escape from Baron_

It was a cold night and the friends, standing at castle gates, shivered in the harsh air. "Hopefully no one has noticed us... I gave the maids off this evening and told the guards about strange noises coming from one of the towers - maybe this will distract them long enough..." Rosa pulled her cloak tightlyaround her shoulders. "So we're forced to leave Baron like fugitives..."

"After what I'm going to do now, we will also get branded as criminals!" Cecil took some keys out of his pocket. "Wait here - it'll only take a moment…"

"What are you planning to do?" Kain asked. The Dragoon looked surprisingly filled with zest for action, although his bandaged shoulder was visibly under his clothes.

"Freeing Golbez," Cecil replied. "We cannot leave him here. Who knows what the people will do to him..."

"But what about the guards? Even if you're their King, they'll surely ask what you're up to near the dungeons at such an hour..." Edge gave to consider.

"I'll take care of them!" Dawn volunteered, grinning. "If my person could confuse the King of Baron back then on Mt. Ordeals, it surely can confuse some guards..." The friends, including Rosa, had to laugh. However, Cecil was glad that no one could see him blushing in the dark of the night.

"Alright... Enough joking," he said. Letting Dawn go first, he carefully followed her to the entrance of the dungeons, trying to hide in the shadows. The stairs down to the cells were guarded by two men.

"Excuse me..." Dawn approached them, her silver hair and sea blue eyes shining mysteriously in the pale light of the stars. The guards turnedtheir attention to the beautiful woman at once.  

"Lady Dawn?" One said respectfully, bowing. "You're a friend of Your Highness, right? What are you doing here at such an hour?"

"I'm so sorry, but just today I heard about the terrible plans this man Golbez had… I'm so glad that he is in the dungeons now and is getting guarded by such able-bodied men as you two…"

The guards beamed at her happily.

"But I was thinking all the time: What if Golbez's henchman would try to set him free? After all they even were able to nearly kill Sir Kain…" Dawn cocked her head and looked at them innocently.

Upon her remark, the guards shuffled with their feet, uneasily. Obviously, they had heard about the battle in the courtyard this morning, as well. "You don't have to worry, Milady! There's no way any foes could enter the castle grounds again…"

Dawn clapped her hands. "You are so brave!  I would be afraid with all the dark corners here… Especially at night. Even now I see something moving now and then…"

The guards became even more nervous and eyed the dark corners around them, suspiciously.  "Well maybe, just to show you that there's no need to fear, we could check the castle wall…" The man tried to sound as courageous as possible, but it was unmistakably so that he as well was starting to see things. Together with Dawn, they left their post before the stairs, all the while chattering loudly, trying to impress the young woman as well as trying to hide their own nervousness.

Cecil used this moment to creep down the stairs. He carefully unlocked the door leading to the cells and pushed it open, the bolts in the hinges squeaking slightly. The damp cellar behind was only illuminated by a torch and the air was musty, stale and lacked air -- the dungeon was not used very often as, despite its military past, Baron had been a rather peaceful country under Cecil's rule. 

_"I cannot believe this... I'm actually breaking into the dungeons of my own castle!"_ The young king frowned - even more so as he suddenly heard footsteps and knew that now he would have to do something even more disturbing... _"Seems the guard heard the door... I have to get rid of him..."_

"Sergeant? Is this you?" The voice of the soldier who was guarding the prison sounded out of the next corridor.

_"It's now or never..."_ Hopingto catch the man by surprise, Cecil rushed around the corner and tried to deal a blow to him. 

The young watchmen gasped, as he saw his King approaching him and looked even more surprised, as the fist of his ruler hit him in the stomach and knockedhim to the floor. Unfortunately for Cecil, the guard did not loose his consciousness -- the Paladin was not that versed in bare-hand fighting as in swordplay. 

_"Maybe Yang or Edge would have been better suited for this task,_" he mused, at the same time trying to plan his next move. Although the guard was still trying to catch his breath, he would surely have called for help before he could hit him again. _"What am I to do now?"_ Cecil wondered desperatelyas the guard looked up...and smiled at him.

"Oh... It's you Your Majesty!" The man gasped, holding his stomach. "Please go on through... You're here to free Master Golbez, right?"

Cecil stared at the guard in surprise, but tried to keep his confusion at bay -- right now, there was no time for questions. 

"Err...thank you..." he stammered. "I'm going to let him out, then..."

The guard was still smiling at him. "Of course. It's cell three."

Cecil raced towards the mentioned cell. "Golbez? Are you in there?" 

"But of course...Why shouldn't I be here? After all it was you who put me in here..." A tall dark figure loosened itself from the shadows of the cell and approached the bars.  As itcame into reach of the torchlight, Cecil could see the familiar face of Golbez, his brother's expression as mocking as ever. 

"Please...let's not quarrel now: You know that I had to do this..." Cecil nearly pleaded, while he tried to find the right key in the dim light.

"Yes, I know... I had acted in the same way... Even more it surprises me that _you _would act the same..." Golbez was watching him attentively.

Cecil frowned, though did not reply, and finally managed to unlock the door. 

"We have to hurry... We're leaving Baron. The details will have to wait for later."

He motioned Golbez to follow.

On their way out, they passed the guard, who was still smiling. "Hope you'll have a safe journey, Master Golbez," he said friendly, "and you, Your Majesty, as well!"

Cecil decided to forget about the guard and hurried up the stairs - as he peeked outside, he saw that Dawn was still talking with the guards, laughing brightly now and then.  Hiding in the shadow of the walls, the two men made their way back to the others, and were soon followed by Dawn, who had noticed the success of the mission and had ended the discussion with the guards under some paltryexcuse.****

Without wasting much time, the group hurried to leave the castle grounds. As they were out of sight of the castle and were slowing down, the friends finally dared to speak again.

"Good work back there, Dawn." Rosa praised the young woman. 

Dawn smiled. "That was no problem. I wonder, though, how Cecil got rid of the guard down in the cells... There surely was one, right?"

"Well, to tell the truth, he just let me through..." Cecil replied, frowning.

"So some people in Baron still trust us..." Rosa seemed relieved.

As Cecil glanced sideways at Golbez, he saw him smirk and suddenly had a terrible premonition. _"He wouldn't--?" _

"The caves are just ahead of us..." Kain broke his thoughts, pointing at the dark cave leading to the Mist Valley.

"That is good..." Rosa sighed. "We can rest in there, can't we Cecil? We all are exhausted..."

"Yes...but we cannot stay too long -- if anyone has discovered our escape by now, someone might follow us..." 

The Valley of Mist had not changed at all since their last visit nor had the plateaus, which were covered with thick clouds of Mist, lost their eeriness. The group wandered a bit, until they found a place where the mist was not that thick.  The group slumped down to the floor and while Rosa took care of Kain's wound, Golbez was informed of the happenings of late.

"So Damycan is taken as well..." The dark wizard raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder if Eblan is in danger..." Edge sounded worried.

"Eblan has been in danger since you assumed the throne..." Kain teased, and caught an angry look from Rydia in return. The caller, though normally not on Edge's side, was obviously moved by the ninja's concern: 

"It will be alright... Don't worry, Edge... I can't imagine why Mallack would want to get Eblan under his control... I mean Damycan has the hovercraft, Baron possesses the plans for airships and Tororia has a great army, but Eblan has nothin--oh..." Rydia held a hand before her mouth as she realized what she had just said -- Kain and Dawn were already laughing. 

The caller blushed.  "I didn't mean it that way... I..."

"It's alright!" Edge gave her a remorseful smile. "I understood what you meant..."

Suddenly the group heard a strange noise.

"Do you think that we are safe here?" Rydia asked in a low voice, looking around her anxiously. 

"I cannot believe that the townspeople would follow us into these caves, even if they have discovered about our escape by now..." Cecil consoled her -- the word 'escape' left a bad after-taste in his mouth: After all it was his own people they were escaping from. __

His wife seemed to feel the same. "Don't give up, darling..." she told him, while bandaging Kain's wound. "Not all hope is lost, yet... Think of the guard who helped you to free Golbez!" 

"Yes -- How did you get him to help you?" Dawn asked. "I heard fighting noises down there.  I had some problems with explaining to the guards that they were only their imagination..." 

"I tried to knock down the guard, but it didn't work. But instead of shouting out, he behaved rather...helpfully..." The Paladin informed her, while not taking his gaze from Golbez the whole time, curious of his reaction. 

"You hit him and he still was friendly?  Man, Cecil, you must stand in very good honour in the eyes of your people... It's a wonder that Mallack was able to manipulate some of Baron's townsfolk..." Edge murmured approvingly.****

Upon the word "manipulate", Golbez raised his eyebrow and Dawn, as well as Cecil, stirred unintentionally.

"_What did the guard say?  'Master Golbez'...?" _To Cecil's horror, the terrible suspicion got stronger and stronger. 

Kain had noticed the uneasiness of his friends. "Is there something we should know?"

_"If I don't tell them now, mistrust might arise... We're all together in this and should not keep any secrets..."_ Cecil mused. _"Besides, I need to know as well what happened in the dungeon..."_

"Is there something you wish to ask of me, Cecil?" Golbez addressed him suddenly, smiling coolly.

"Yes... I was just wondering why the guard in the dungeon called you 'Master'..."

"He called Golbez master?" Kain hissed.

"Yes..." The dark-haired man answered calmly. "He did call me master, as..." His gaze caught with Cecil's and Dawn's who both were watching him, nervously.  Golbez's smile turned bitter: "He called me Master, as that it was, for I was his masterin that moment..." 

"You...you manipulated him?" Rydia stammered.

"You still can manipulate people?" Kain snapped and was quite roused all of a sudden. 

Cecil shook his head. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Golbez shrugged unconcernedly. "Why so surprised, Cecil? You saw what I did to the wyvern back then..."

"The wyvern was your work as well? And you did know of it, Cecil?" Kain stared at his friend in surprise.

The Paladin shrugged with his shoulders, sheepishly. "I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want to upset you..."

"I knew about Golbez's powers as well, although I did not know that they were still so strong..." Dawn said, in order to help Cecil out. "Don't forget that he has not used his powers for evil goals, but to help us."

"Really?" Edge folded his arms. "All this manipulation stuff sounds scary to me...  Does the spell work with everyone?" 

Golbez's mouth turned to a false smile. "Well, what do you think, ninja?"

"Golbez... Would you please be so kind as to answer Edge's question!" Cecil said, rather pressed -- he feared that any more secrets would endanger the team spirit.

The smile left his brothers face. "The answer is no. In fact my telepathy wouldn't work on most people... It did only work on this guard because of his 'former' experience with my powers..."

Kain went pale and he was short of jumping to his feet and would have drawnhis weapon if his wounded shoulder would just allow it. "Does this mean that..."

For the first time, Rosa joined into the conversation. "Kain, please calm yourself.  Golbez surely wouldn't try using his powers on you…" 

"But I could, indeed..." Golbez interrupted her. "I thought that it was time to tell the truth. You deserve to know with whom you travel."

"And I did trust you…" Kain murmured. 

"Did you?" Golbez chuckled.

"Could...could Golbez's powers be the reason for Mallack to want him alive?" Rydia suddenly uttered.  She had been lost in thought for a while now -- Golbez's powers obviously did not frighten her as much as they did the others.

"Yeah, that's right!  He said that you were "One of his kind".  And Morrison called you the "chosen", didn't he?"  Kain's voice had a dangerous, angry undertone to it.

"Kain.  Now don't get any wrong ideas..." Cecil tried to mediate, but was stopped by a serious glare from his friend.

"Cecil, I can understand that you want to help your brother, but weren't you the one who told me that we cannot have any secrets from each other right now? In addition, you possibly can't expect from us...especially from me, to just ignore what Golbez has just told us!"

Sorrow welled up in the paladin, though he knew that Kain was right. "Yes, of course... However, there's no need to mistrust Golbez all of a sudden -- he has hindered our mission by no means until now..." Rosa, Dawn and Rydia nodded, while Edge and Kain were not that easily persuaded. 

"But he has not done much to help us, either..." Kain murmured. "He let Morrison go - if he can blow a door to pieces and is able to control a wyvern, I wonder why he couldn't stop him..."

"That's because Morrison was too strong..." Rosa told him starting an argument between the friends, which Golbez watched rather amused. 

_"It seems to please him that he is the reason for the quarrel -- maybe he hopes that this way, he will become even more isolated... After all he told me that he just wanted to be left alone..."_

Cecil bit his lip upon reflecting. In fact Golbez's behaviour became more and more strange, but still the Paladin could not believe that his brother was in league with the enemy. As he looked up, he caught Dawn's gaze.  The silver-haired woman smiled at him, encouragingly. Then she held up her hand: 

"Maybe we should stop now with these silly presumptions. Though it is likely that Mallack may have plans not only for me but for Golbez as well, there's no need to believe that he would betray any of us. He could have done so already, long ago, but he didn't. He is not more or less suspicious than I am.  After all, my powers have a manipulative character as well. In the shrine Mallack even maintained that I would betray you..." Her gaze dropped down.****

"We know that you would never betray us, Dawn." Rosa smiled at her friend.

Dawn stared at her, then at Cecil with big eyes and for a moment, she seemed nearly sad. "Your trust honours me... I promise that I will not disappoint you…" 

"So we have handled this affair, right?" Rydia tried to change the subject -- it made her feel uneasy, as she herself had slight prejudices against the female Paladin in the beginning. "Let's try to make a fire now... I am freezing!"

As no one contradicted her, Cecil sighed, relieved, and helped Edge to start a fire.  He was glad that the subject "Golbez" had been laid to rest for now, as well. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that his brother wandered over to Dawn and asked her some things; leaving her after a while, an earnest look on his face. _"I wonder what he wanted..."_

He would have loved to ask her right away about this, but right now Rydia caught his attention. The caller was sitting, arms around her legs, hunched up against a rock, her green eyes wide open and nervously staring into the mist clouds in the air.

_"She looks afraid of something..."_ Due to his own problems, he had nearly forgotten the young caller and how the latest happenings must have felt for her. The fact that Mallack's followers only tried to use the innermost feelings of their 'victims' for their own cause, threw a completely different light on Rydia's experience with Kieran.

_"That she trusted him so easily must have meant that she has been feeling alone and misunderstood or mistreated by us for some time..." _And there was still another thing nagging him about the girl...

"Do the Mist caves make you feel uneasy?" Cecil went over to the caller.

The green-haired girl looked up and seemed grateful for Cecil's concern. "Yes, somehow... somehow it feels so strange here..."

Cecil closed his eyes for a moment and, trying to push away the problems he had on his mind, concentrated on his surroundings -- indeed there was something in the air... Something magical, powerful, seldom to feel these days. 

"It feels like a strong magical force... Something I haven't felt for a long time..." At the same time the happenings had started on Mt. Ordeals, especially White magic had become weaker and weaker, although nearly imperceptible. 

The caller nodded. "Yes...but this is not everything... When I look into the mist...I..."

suddenly she laughed nervously and started to fumble with the clasp of her green satin cloak. "I guess I'm just seeing things..." 

"No, please tell me…" Cecil knelt down next to her

"It's...it's like something is calling me...some shadow...and it scares me.  I feel so lonely here..." Rydia averted her gaze.

"You're thinking of your mother, aren't you?" Cecil's voice was soft.  The caller looked at him, surprised.  Lately, it had become seldom that they talked about this subject.

"Yes… And I do miss her...  But I have you and everyone else, after all... It was so stupid of me to believe Kieran back then, Cecil... Mallack nearly would have succeeded in using me for his own plans... And now, as we are probably about to face him, I'm afraid that my judgment might lead me astray, again..."

"Don't be afraid..." Cecil laid his hands on her shoulders carefully, looking her friendly in the eyes. "Trust your own judgment.  It was also the thing that helped you against Kieran in the end... Still, if we had taken better care of you, Kieran's plan would not have worked," He sighed, "and also, it was only natural to mistrust us at one point or the other, after what we… What _I_ did to you…"

Rydia stared at him with big eyes. "But..."

Cecil held up his hand. "No. Please listen… There's something I need to ask you.  I've been longing to do it since I met a boy who'd have a similar fate to your one… Rydia, why did you trust me after I had brought you to Kaipo?"

The girl bowed her head slightly. "You know, Cecil, that at the beginning I often asked this thing myself..."

A sting went through the Paladin's soul. "I see…"

"Please wait and listen to me..." Rydia had noticed his uneasiness. "I was a little girl back then -- I had lost everything, had nowhere to go... And you protected me... So what choice did I have?" She looked at him earnestly. "It was painful for me at first.  I hated you, and maybe I was just waiting for the right moment to make a run.  That's at least what I think now about my state of mind back then -- as I was still a little child, I might have felt more simply… Just alone, maybe afraid…and angry…" 

Suddenly she smiled slightly. "But during our travels, I slowly had to realize that the man traveling with me was not the man I believed him to be.  I tried to find faults and cruelty in your behaviour, but there were none… You could have easily abandoned me or let me stay behind somewhere in a town, you know?"

Cecil looked at her, horrified. "I'd never…"

Rydia giggled, the laugh bringing some colour to her pale face again. "I know! You didn't even think of it… That's just you… Don't you understand, Cecil? All your behaviour was so filled with regret, so directed on helping to right the wrongs Baron had committed.  Even as I came back from the Monster world and saved you from Golbez, you did not really seem happy about your rescue, but instead wondered why I would help you…"

The Paladin's heart suddenly felt heavy, as if the load of truth of her words had sunken directly to his core. 

"When I was with you, I felt protected… But I did not want to feel this way - I did not want to feel safe around the man who had taken my mother, and thus, my safety from me.  We callers lived an isolated life and all the people I loved were either family, or others of my kind. But in the land of the Summoned monsters, where I was a human stranger, but still was treated like a friend, I learned that blood and reason are not the only things which can bring living beings together… Sometimes, it's just the heart - against any common sense… And so I followed just that.  I felt that I had lost so much already, that I could not stand to loose also you and Rosa… You can call it weak, but I'm glad that I was so weak back then…" She smiled shyly.

As it happened so often to him lately, Cecil did not really know what to say -- Kain had been right: In fact, it seemed as if at least some things in his life were turning out good. Rydia's 'confession' had not made his heart feel lighter, but the load was no longer one of guilt and regret, but of sympathy and the silent promise ofalways being there for her. He embraced her gently. "Thank you…"

The caller seemed to relax in his embrace, nearly like a child in the arms of its parents. This seldom moment of tranquility was destroyed by two grey-blue, sparkling eyes, peeking over Rydia' shoulder.

"And here's already the next embrace waiting for you, Caller Rydia!" Edge opened his arms.

"WAHH! You blithering idiot!  You frightened me even more than these Mist clouds!" Rydia jumped to her feet, knocking Edge down, as he wanted to get up as well. 

"Ahh... Rydia, isn't it enough that I'm laying my heart on the floor before you?  Must it be my whole body?" The normally athletic ninja gasped, although he had gotten used to Rydia's violent outbursts long ago.

Ignoring his remark, Rydia turned around to Cecil: "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't. Edge here just wanted to show you that he was worried about you… Have fun, you two…" He winked.

Rydia made a face, but as she did help up Edge, she did not twist his arm as painfully as usually.

Leaving his friends alone in their quarrelling, Cecil stood up, noticing for the first time that Rosa had not been standing far away from them. Although his wife looked tired, there was a smile on her face and it seemed as if she had been eavesdropping. 

"So you finally found the strength to ask her directly..." she said quietly.

Cecil nodded. "Yes, it was time for that… I've been longing to talk with her about it for quite some time now - even if we should worry about other things, as the whole world seems to be against us…"

"The world is not enough to stand against us!" Edge proclaimed, rubbing his hurting wrist. "Especially if Rydia is furious…"

The young girl shot him an angry look, but had to giggle as well, and for moment this cold and dark night seemed less fearful than before.

~*~

The walk through the rest of the valley went rather swift -- hardly any creatures crossed their way, and the few thatwere quickly dispatched by the group. As the sun was about to rise, they reached the exit. 

"Ah… No more mist!" Dawn inhaled the cool mountain air.

"Look - there's the airship!" Rydia pointed towards a red speck amongst the green of the valley in the distance.

As they approached the ship, Cid started to babble at once. "Cecil!  Rosa!  Am I glad that you all made it safely here!  I thought I was dreaming as I saw the townspeople starting off towards my dear ship…" He shook his head. "We really need to put a stop to Mallack's doings!  The good people of Baron..." Suddenly his gaze fell on Kain. "Oh...you are here too Dragoon, although you're wounded… You're thick-headed with a tendency for stupidity as always, I see_… _I just hope that you did not worry Diane with your behaviour!" 

Kain bit his lip and looked down to the ground, darkly. "Diane is well and staying for some time with an aunt..."

"What?  She didn't tell me of this… But I'm pleased about her decision: I feared that she would run after you…" Cid mumbled.

"You shouldn't worry about that…" Kain hissed under his breath.  Cid's constant teasing was robbing him of the last of his nerves.  He stared the older man directly in the face:

"It might make you happy to hear that we have decided to split up for some time…"

"What?" A mumble went through the friends.

Rosa stared at him with big eyes. "But Kain…" 

"It's okay," Cecil whispered into her ear. "Lets talk about it later…" As his eyes fell on Dawn, he noticed that the girl nodded to herself, sadly, as if she had suspected for some time now, that something like this would happen.

"That...that..." Cid was speechless and was looking surprisingly shocked. 

"I… I just hope that it was her decision as well, and that you didn't make her too unhappy!"  He finally snapped, turned his back to the group and approached the airship.

"What are you standing there?  We should get a move on! Where to?" He asked gruffly.

"Mysidia..." Cecil replied frowning.  He had not expected that Kain's and Diane's separation would disturb Cid that much.

As soon as everyone had boarded the ship, they took off into the grey autumn sky. The group was very silent and hardly anyone was speaking as Kain's confession had not helped to lighten up the mood.  After some time, the ship reached the ocean and Cid steered the _Enterprise_ southeast towards Mysidia. 

"I wonder what will await us..." Yang wondered, watching the blue-green sea beneath them. Even the Karate Master and King of Fabul, who normally was so full of confidence and energy, looked weary and tired.

"Hopefully only Mallack…" Cecil looked at Rosa, who gave a weak smile in return, obviously thinking of her father.

"Do you hear that?" Golbez suddenly rushed to the railing and began studying the horizon with narrowed eyes.  Indeed there was another noise next to the one of their own airship - it was the sound of propellers, which came nearer and nearer.

"Seems we have company!" Cid shouted from his place at the steer, pointing in the distance.  

The speck at the horizon became bigger and bigger as did the roaring noise, until the point began to take on shape and a massive airship constructed out of dark brown wood came into view. It's course was headed directly for…the _Enterprise._

"Another airship?"  Cecil gasped -- at the steer of the other ship a blond man was now clearly visible: It was Sir Samon.

Rosa had seen him as well. "How did they find us?" She whispered.

"These fiends!"  Kain snarled and raced towards the railing, as well, clutching his shoulder which still hurt. "They're telling the townspeople about the dangers of airships, but posses one their selves.  What hypocrites!" 

The enemies airship drewnearer and nearer with full speed.

"We have to get the ship away from here, fast!" Dawn shouted, eyes fixed on the enemy vehicle.

"I don't know if we can make it!" Cid shouted, pulling the steer around. "They're too fast!" 

Cecil joined his friend at the steer in case he needed help._ "Where did they get an airship from?"_

"Okay, hold on!" Cid tried to outmaneuver the other ship at full speed. However, the airship of the Dark Paladins seemed to put on speed as well, following the Enterprise closely.

"We're too slow…" Golbez murmured. As Cecil turned around he realized to his horror, that his brother was right - the stern of the airship was now only inches away from the bow of the enemy ship. Just now, it tried to overtake the _Enterprise from the side._

"They're trying to ram us!" If the railing had not been out of steel, Yang would have dug his nails in it. 

 "I won't let my dear _Enterprise get a scratch!" Cid's face was red of anger and strain. "I hope you're all in for another desperate attempt to outmaneuver them!"_

"Anything is better than crashing into the sea!" Kain shouted.

Cid's grin made his blood freeze. "Then you won't like what I'm going to do next..." The Engineer smiled and steered the Enterprise in a nose-dive towards the ocean beneath them.

"What is he doing?" Rydia screamed; like the others, she desperately clung to anything she could get hold of.

Rosa closed her eyes as the deep blue of the ocean came nearer and nearer with a breakneck speed. "Cid!  We'll plunge into the water!"

"Not yet!" Cid shouted as he pulled up his ship, flying now only barely over the water's surface; the waves nearly crashing into the hull of the Enterprise. "These Dark Paladin guys shall follow if they dare…"

Cecil looked up - the ship of the enemy was high in the air over them, although it had not given up pursuing them yet.

"Never thought I'd say this, but good work, Cid!" Kain yelled, though frowned as he looked ahead of them. "Err… But I think that we better pick up some height… Unless we want to end up inpieces on a cliff…" 

The mainland was in visible sight now as well as a great stony wall directly before them.

"No problem… I'll just…" Suddenly Cid stared upwards. "What are these bastards doing? They're coming in!"  The other ship started a nose-dive, obviously not caring about the cliff ahead.

"They want to block our way and don't seem to care if they die in the attempt, as well…" Desperately, Cid tried to think of a way out, but the situation seemed hopeless.  Samon turned out to be an excellent driver, and no matter how much the engineer tried to pull out to the left or the right, the enemy ship was always directly above them. 

"No one fools me!" Cid gritted his teeth and put on even more speed, now holding directly towards the cliff.  By now his friends were even too shocked to scream and awaited what was coming with wide open eyes.

"Yay!" Cid howled as the rough cliff was away only as wide as a finger; the sound of the two airships and the breaking waves beneath them nearly drowning his yell.  In the last moment, he pulled the ship upwards, barely scraping over the stony surface of the wall, the whole ship rocking. 

Rydia sighed relieved. " I thought we were done for good…" With a loud crash something went down next to her.

"Oh no… The hull of the other ship hit the propeller as we got up!" Kain stared upwards and suddenly was yanked aside by Golbez -- just in time before the next metal blade went deep into the wooden planks of the ship. The propeller above them had lost already some blades, but the remaining ones were turning even faster and smoke was coming out the rotation device.

"I'm having problems steering the ship! Due to the impact, the propeller is out of control!" Cid shouted, trying desperately to hold the _Enterprise_ on course.  Out of the corner of his eye, Cecil could spot the faint outline of Mysidia in the distance.

The ship was still flying at full speed barely across the ground -- helplessly the friends had to watch, asthey left their destination Mysidia behind them.****

"I cannot land at such a speed…  I'm trying to reduce it, but our only chance is to hope that the rotor stops working…" Cid hissed, his hands clinging to the steer.

"What about the other ship?" As Cecil turned around he saw that the ship of the Dark Paladins had stopped some way back and was floating in the air.  "Why aren't they following us? Maybe their ship got damaged too..." 

"I don't care - one less problem... It will be hard enough to bring this baby in for alanding..." Cid said breathlessly and concentrated again on landing the ship.

They raced along the Mysidian coast, leaving woods and hills behind until, after what seemed an eternity, Cid finally was able to bring the Enterprise down, the last parts of the propeller falling to the deck.

"I cannot believe that we survived this..." Dawn coughed and brushed the dust from her clothes.

"Ah...solid earth…" Edge pushed out the plank and stumbled from the ship.

Cid had tears in his eyes. "My poor _Enterprise_…" The ship had big holes in the wooden plank and most parts of the propeller were gone, or stuck in the deck.

"Nothing we couldn't repair!" Cecil tried to sound as encouraging as possible. However, despite his experiences with airships, he was grateful to stand on solid ground again. "You did a great job Cid… Still, I fear that we're a good deal away from Mysidia..."

"I know that we all want to reach the town as soon as possible, but wouldn't it be better to rest here until tomorrow under these circumstances?" Yang proposed. "I don't think that we'll make it to town until the sun sets…"

"But won't Mallack's men search for us?" Rosa asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"They could have done so already, but it seems that they only wanted to keep us away from Mysidia…" Golbez's dark voice suggested.

"I still wonder how they could know of our plans..." Kain murmured, glaring at the Black wizard suspiciously.

"We can brood later on that. I think we should follow Yang's advice and rest here until tomorrow... There should be some tents loaded on the _Enterprise, right Cid?  So we can use them... We will need all our strength tomorrow... Even more now, as Mallack and his men know of us and can prepare…" Cecil said. "What if they've already invaded Mysidia? There's probably no town on the Blue Planet where people dislike me more than there…" He shuddered upon imaging how the Dark Paladins could use the emotions of the people... _

_"Of people hating me as much as Jonas…" _


	18. Chapter 17: For now and never

**17.**

_For now and never_

They built up the tents and made a fire while Cid started to repair the _Enterprise_, all the while swearing under his breath that Mallack's men would pay for the horrible pain they had caused his "mechanical darling".

After a silent meal, each of the companions prepared in his own way for the next day and possible fight with Mallack.  The group split up, some of the friends staying around the fire, others going for a walk in the near woods or resting.  Dawn had left the group rather early, somewhat saddened. Although the others had told Cecil that the young woman had wanted to be alone, the Paladin could not help but follow her - there were too many questions he wanted to ask.

He found Dawn sitting in a little clearing not too far away from the group where she had built a fire for herself. She was staring into the flames, the red glow on her ivory face giving her an unreal touch - her beauty was even more astonishing than ever before. Still, Cecil could feel that the aura of sadness around her had grown stronger for some reason.

"So here you are…" he said quietly, not knowing how else tostart.

The female paladin was not startled by his voice, but turned to face him and nodded slightly. "I'm sorry that I left so suddenly, but I needed some time alone…"

Cecil sat down beside her. "I thought so, but sometimes it is better to talk with someone."

Dawn smiled. "Funny that you should say such things... You are normally the one who doesn't talk about his problems…"

"Yeah.... But as you see I'm learning… Anyway, I still haven't thanked you for telling us the truth back then in Tororia. It surely wasn't easy for you to do..."

"No need to thank me…" Dawn lowered her long lashes. "I should have told you all this sooner..."

"No… I really understand. It must have been hard for you to talk about it.  Besides, you're not the only one who has kept information.  I should have told the others about Golbez's powers sooner as well…" Cecil shook his head, angry at himself. "How could I have been so naïve?  I should have known that his powers would not only affect animals and monsters, but humans as well… Why should he have lost this power Zeromus had granted him?"

"You couldn't have known…" Dawn replied. "Golbez did everything he could to hide this ability… As I've told you: not even I knew that his powers were still that strong.  But even now it does not matter.  I see no threat in his abilities."

Cecil reflected for a moment. "I wish… I wish I could set as much trust in Golbez as you can. But lately... No, maybe since he has arrived here, he made it so hard, especially for me, to trust him..."

"Look into your heart, Cecil... Do you really think that your brother would betray you?" Dawn asked softly.

The Paladin sighed and stared into the fire, the warmth of it on his face feeling pleasant during such a cold night. "I...want to believe that he's good.  If I just could reach him..."

"Yesterday Golbez wanted to talk to me…" Dawn said, causing Cecil to look at her again. 

The Paladin was happy that his friend had started the subject onher own accord, as he was very interested indeed in this discussion.  Not wanting to seem too eager, he asked rather casually: "Oh...did he?  Was it something...interesting?"

Dawn laughed brightly, her eyes sparkling with amusement.  "Lying does not suit you well, Cecil... You can barely hide your burning interest!"

Cecil cleared his throat, embarrassed, but had to smile as well. "Alright,  I'm defeated… I didn't want to press you.  Lately I have the impression that Golbez tells others more about himself than he tells me…"

"That might be, because he cares for you most of all…" Dawn said, shaking her head in reflection.

"You mean that he wants to protect me from...some kind of truth?" Cecil frowned. "So what was it he wanted to talk with you about?"

"He had a question..." Dawn said, quietly. "He asked...if he was like Mallack..."

"Why...why would he be interested in that?" Cecil was puzzled but knew the answer to this question soon enough. _"Mallack had told him that he's the same as them…" _

As if Dawn had read his thoughts, she nodded. "Exactly... And the things Morrison had said are disturbing him as well.  In fact there are many parallels between him and the men that now call themselves the Dark Paladins: the power to wield a strong manipulation magic, maybe even a hate against Lunarians, although Golbez himself is one.  But there's something else in Golbez... Something Nathaniel had in his youth as well… Something I cannot pinpoint, but it's there…"

Cecil frowned - it was seldom that Dawn could not pinpoint her opinion about someone.

He shifted his sitting position a bit, so that he was facing her directly.  "Dawn... Do you still love Nathaniel?" He asked calmly.

Dawn's gaze met his, surprised. Then she smiled. "If you'd asked this question just one year ago, it would have been for me like if you had asked whether the Blue Planet turns around the sun or not..."

"Oh... Sometimes I'm not sure if Edge is aware of this fact..." Cecil grinned, making Dawn laugh. 

Seriousness returned to her face very quickly as she continued: "But now, as I saw what has become… It seems to me that everything I ever loved about him is dead… Or that I loved a part of him; a person named "Nathaniel" which never did exist.  The person I loved might just have been just the product of my own imagination, the way I wanted him to be..."

_"How I wanted him to be... It's the same with whatI maybe do with Golbez…"_  

"I understand what you mean..." Cecil said gravely.

"Although I know that something made him into the person he is today, there's not enough hope left in me that he could ever change again... It's too late -- during our years together I saw how he changed... And I was unable to stop it…" Dawn averted her gaze. "Maybe I should have tried harder..."

"But you did..." Cecil was filled with awe and sympathy for the woman next to him who still, even in this moment, was putting the needs of others overher own ones. 

Dawn turned to face him again, slowly... "Yes, maybe I did." She whispered. "But...why did you ask anyway about Nathaniel?"

"As a friend, I want to be honest to you, Dawn..." Cecil said. The sentence caused the young woman to watch him attentively, her big blue eyes bigger and deeper than ever before. "If we meet Mallack on the battlefield and he does not surrender, it might be necessary to--"

"Kill him..." Dawn completed the sentence "Yes, I know," she said sadly, though for a moment it seemed to Cecil that it was not sadness about Mallack, but about the way he had answered her question. __

"Is it really okay?" Cecil laid his hand on her arm.

Dawn's gaze went down, watching his slender fingers around her wrist, not being possessive or urging her to something, but just a warm gesture of trust, friendship and support. Then she looked up into his face, which had a curious, but not impatient look to it, waiting for her answer. "Everything is alright... I've stopped loving Nathaniel since..." her voice trailed off and for a moment it seemed that she longed to say a thousands things, but she stayed silent, no words able to express what she was feeling in this moment.  Instead she smiled, though it was a terribly sad one, and finished the sentence, quietly: "I do not love him anymore for some time now…" 

"Good..." Cecil nodded reassuringly and took his hand away, as he had the feeling that it made her feel uncomfortable in some way. "I just don't want more people to be sad... It will already be hard enough to face Rosa's father..."

"Oh...yes, certainly..." Dawn answered quickly and held a cold hand near her cheek, which was slightly reddish. "How is she coping with it so far?"

Cecil looked deeply worried. "She doesn't try to show, but she's afraid and confused... Although she is sure that somehow we will be able to bring him back to his senses... And I will surely not be the one to tell her otherwise..."

"So you think that there is still hope?" Dawn's voice suddenly had a bitter touch to it.

Cecil looked at her, surprised. "Of all people you're asking me that? Although it's not too likely, there's still a slight chance to save him... Of course there's still hope - there always is... After all, it was you who taught me to trust in myself and never to give up…"

"Did I?  Yes... I suppose I did... It's a pleasant thought that there always is hope..." Dawn reached out for Cecil's hand and squeezed it in her own, smiling for a moment as her skin met his. 

"Cecil… May you never lose hope.  I'm sure that for you, it will never be lost… And for Rosa as well..." She sounded more genuine than ever, though her smile seemed like a wall against something inside of her.  Still smiling, she let go of his hand, stood up and turned to leave.  "It's been a long day and I'm tired..." Suddenly, though with hesitation in her movement, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek, her lips as soft as a feather. "Thanks for the talk Cecil..." she whispered, before leaving for the tents.

"It was a pleasure...as always..." the young man replied, a slight hint of confusion in his voice due to her sudden departure.  Staring into the flames, he suddenly wondered if it was only mere friendship that Dawn felt for him, and if Golbez's remarks had aimed on their relationship. The thought made his heart feel heavy. _"But I can't believe this… She knows how I feel about __Rosa__ and it's due to her that we are still together… If she sees more in me than a friend, then why didn't she behave differently on __Mt.__Ordeals__?" _

Seeing that he could not interpret his friend's behaviour, he turned his thoughts to something else, which was not more pleasant, though._  "Why did Golbez ask Dawn about Mallack? Is he responding to the dark power of the stone?" _

**~*~**

The others had seen Dawn leaving the fireplace and approaching the tents. 

"I'm not really sure, but I think that Dawn likes Cecil very much… I wonder if he knows..." Rydia sighed, nodding towards the edge of the woods, where the Paladin was sitting, lost in thoughts.

"I don't think so," Kain remarked. "Cecil's not too bright in this respect…"

"Don't let him hear that!" Edge had to grin. "Speaking in such a way about your best friend..."

Kain scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. "All I mean is that in Cecil's eyes, Dawn's behaviour might just be a sign of a very good friendship… After all they built up a pretty close relationship on Mt. Ordeals, so he might not have noticed that her feelings have changed…" 

"I wouldn't underestimate him..." Golbez said darkly.

Kain raised an eyebrow. "You of all people say something nice about Cecil?  You're full of surprises..."

"Indeed. You should know best of all people…" Golbez grinned cruelly and fixated him with his gaze, amused.

Kain suppressed a comment, although he had well understood the remark.  "Whatever, wizard… I feel sorry for Dawn -- I really wonder how she can bear to be near Cecil when…" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dawn talking with Rosa near the tents, "when she knows that Cecil loves Rosa more than his life... How can she accept it…? I couldn't... Even when…"

"We get the point, Kain..." Edge gave him a slap on the shoulder as he saw that the expression of the Dragoon was suddenly stricken with guilt. "It's okay… What has happened has happened…"

"I can understand Dawn…" Rydia said quietly. "If I liked someone very much, I'd never want to leave the side of this person... Even if this person was unreachable…" Sadness crept over her, and the friends knew that Rydia was thinking of her dead mother again.

"Me, too..." Edge grinned to cheer her up. "What's your opinion, oh dark master Golbez?"

The dark wizard frowned and answered, dryly, "If I would like someone very much, I would try to get away from that person as fast as possible…"

"Err..." Edge murmured, "It couldn't be possible that someone is in a very bad mood here..."

"That's terrible!" Rydia was appalled.  

"It is only the truth. Besides, I'm not the only one here who seems to think this way…" Golbez smiled cruelly at Kain.

"How do you dare to compare me with yourself!" the Dragoon snapped, "So if it is true what you say, then why are you still here?  Or do you want to tell me that you dislike your own brother?  Because if you would like him, you would have left already!" 

Golbez looked baffled at him for a moment, then his dark eyes narrowed. "When the time is right, I will indeed take certain actions, don't worry… And you should take care that people will not in fact someday compare you with me... Maybe more of my dark teachings than intended still hide in your soul…"

Kain grumbled and shot Golbez an evil look, hoping that the other only wanted to tease him. _"The separation from Diane must seem like a triumph to him..." _Kain thought sourly_, "love is a burden too heavy to carry… Was he right after all?_" 

~*~

"Dawn... Are you alright? You look sad..." Rosa stopped the silver-haired woman on her way to the tents. 

"I... I was talking with Cecil about the past." Dawn blushed a bit.  "I maybe felt a bit...nervous as we may have to confront Mallack tomorrow..."

"Don't forget that you're not alone..." Rosa smiled at her, though her blue eyes studied her curiously. "Cecil likes you very much... As do I. You're like a sister... Not only for him but for me as well..."

The silver-haired woman dropped her gaze. "Yes... I know... I like you very much as well...both of you..." There lay a strange emphasis on "both".****

"Dawn… If there's something that is worrying you, please tell me. You've become so calm lately and sometimes I fear that--" Rosa bit her lip. "Forget it. Just...just tell me if there's something on your mind: _No matter what_…" Her plea was quite emphatic.

Dawn tried to smile. "No… Really. There's nothing... Oh, but one thing..." She suddenly loosened her beautiful silver rapier from her belt. "Your bow got lost in the temple while we fought Morrison, right?  So I'd like to give this to you... It's light and easy to use, even if you're not trained in sword fighting..." 

"What?  But Dawn... I cannot possibly take this. I--"

"Please. I have other weapons in my pack... Take it as a sign of friendship... It was given to me by  Nath--by someone very dear.  So now I'd like to give it to you…"

Rosa carefully took the weapon out of Dawn's hand and admired it. "It's beautiful!"  She blushed. "I don't know how to thank you… I wish I could give you something in return…" She embraced her friend.

"But you already did…"Dawn whispered, returning the embrace. "Your trust…"

Clearing her throat she loosened herself out of Rosa's embrace. "I'd better go to sleep now…" she said and left for her tent.

Rosa looked after her, worried - although Dawn had been smiling as he had left, the Queen of Baron could have sworn that she had seen some tears in her eyes… 


	19. Chapter 18: Lovers revisited

_Author's note: Just one thing: I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this (except for the latest reviewers, of course). So –don't forget to review! ;)_

**18.**

_Lovers revisited_

The next day they broke up early, leaving Cid once more behind to take care of the airship. This time, though, Baron's engineer had requested that another person should stay behind as an assistant. Normally, Kain would have been a good choice, as he could need rest due to his wound, but both he and Cid would not have been too happy about this solution. To everyone's stupefaction, Edge had declared his willingness to stay and help in Kain's stead. Cecil smiled at the decision of his friend; it seemed that in these hard times, even the most irresponsible one tried to help as much as he could. Rydia seemed to be impressed, as well, and was so generous to give Edge a little kiss on the cheek as they left. 

"Hey Cid - can I become your official assistant? That might impress Rydia even more!" the ninja laughed as he waved goodbye tohis friends.

The day was an unusual sunny one, the sky not grey, but azure blue and although it was cold, it was more like a day in early spring than at the end of autumn. It seemed strange to Cecil that such a peaceful and serene seeming day should be the day of their possible final confrontation with Mallack. Still, not getting deceived by the peacefulness of their surroundings, the friends moved with care, in fear that the Dark Paladins might still be searching for them. After some time they finally reached the path along the coast which led directly to Mysidia - the street, normally bustling with traders and travellers, was unusuallyquiet.

"I don't like this at all…" Kain surveyed their surroundings suspiciously -- there was not much place to hide for anyone: to their left only being some stony salt hills, and to their right a cliff with the roaring sea beneath.

As they rounded the corner of the hills, a traveler in a typical Mysidian white wizard's garb approached them, the person's face veiled by the hood of a wide, white cape.

Cecil exchanged glances with Dawn, but none of them were able to decide whether the stranger was hostile or not.

_"If it is a normal person under a spell by Mallack we can't discern his or her motives…" _The Paladin mused. It was a difficult and unpleasant situation not to know one's enemy.

The group moved forward, cautiously, but the person did not seem to take much interest in them and passed them, only nodding a short greeting as it was a habit of travelers meeting each other.

"Maybe we are too suspicious by now…" Rosa wondered, though sighed in reliefas they had left the white wizard behind them. 

"Good people!" a male voice suddenly shouted.

The friends turned around abruptly - the white wizard was standing some distance away from them. 

"What do you want?" Cecil asked, uneasiness creeping over him - Golbez and Kain seemed to feel the same way, and waited for the next reaction of the stranger with tension.

"I believe that you possess something which is mine…" Slowly, the man released his left hand from under his cloak and removed his hood, revealing…the face of Sir Samon.

"You again?" Kain wanted to rush forward, but was held back by Dawn's cry: 

"NO...please don't!" 

Kain looked surprised at the silver-haired woman, who did not take for one moment her gaze from off Samon; her expression unreadable.

"Dawn… He's only one and we're many! There's no way we could loose this fight!" Kain wanted to storm forward, again. This time, Dawn did not leave it at words, but stepped in his way.

Sir Samon smiled cruelly. "You're very observant, Lady Dawn... I knew that you were a bright girl. And now I would like to have the crystal. I'll even say please…" he teased.

"You do not think that we--" Yang started, but was interrupted by Dawn.

"Cecil, please give me the crystal…" She approached the Paladin.

"But Dawn... Why?" Cecil looked at her with big eyes.

Dawn's expression was filled with despair, and she stretched out her hand with a nearly pleading gesture. "Please trust me…" Her words were more breathed than spoken.

"Always…" Cecil nodded, all doubt disappearing from his face, and without a moment of hesitation he took out the crystal shard from his cloak and gave it to Dawn, although all of the companions-- particularly Golbez--werewatching this action with skepticism. 

Nearly surprised,** Dawn regarded the open face of her friend and a faint smile appeared on her face.**

"You will not regret this…"

She turned around, her voice all calm and strong again, and held the crystal high up. "Here it is! Catch!" She prepared to throw the stone, but was stopped by Samon's orders:

"Do you really think that I'm that stupid? No... You'll bring me the crystal, Lady Dawn. You and no one else."

Seeing Dawn turning pale, Cecil took a step forward. "Let me do it."

"No…" The female Paladin whispered, her gaze still fixated on Samon. Nearly roughlyshe pushed Cecil back, and approached their enemy, holding the crystal tightly in her hand. The others watched her, some anxiously, some with looks of doubton their faces, although no one dared to interfere.

"Good girl..." the man smiled and stretched out his left hand. "And now give it to me."

"But surely!" With an astounding speed, Dawn suddenly stormed forward and darted with her hand through under Samon's cloak, grabbing the wrist of his right hand and twisting it around with all the strength she possessed.

"You little bitch!" Samon uttered a cry of pain and something fell clattering to the floor - the friends gasped as they saw what it was: a little crossbow, aimed with three bolts at once.

_"So that was what Dawn saw... One of these bolts would surely have hit…"_ Cecil realized.

"You won't get away like this!" Driven by rage, Samon grabbed Dawn's arm and tried to wring out the crystal.

"Dawn! We'll help you!" Cecil shouted and drew his sword, but the female Paladin had already succeeded in freeing herself from Samon's grasp:

"Here, catch!" She shouted and threw the crystal towards the group. It landed directly before Rosa's feet and the young queen picked it up, quickly.

"That was a mistake!" Samon hissed -- before the young woman could escape his grasp, he had pulled her against him, one arm swung around her neck.

"One move more and she is dead!" He grunted, pulling Dawn with him towards the cliff, in order to guard his back.

The others froze as they realized that Samon had pressed a long dagger into Dawn' back… 

"How… how could he draw it so quickly?" Kain murmured – as if Samon had heard his words, the blond man started to chuckle:

"You see, Dragoon, the weapon of a coward is a very practical thing indeed…" He said, referring to their former encounter in Tororia.

Kain could no longer conceal his anger. "Let her go at once!"

"Don't worry. I will not kill her... Not if it isn't necessary. Mallack wants her alive, as well as he wants the crystal, which is much more important, though. So if you want her unharmed, the wizard there has to bring the stone to me..." Samon pointed at Golbez.

"Why me?" Golbez asked, seemingly calm.

"Because Lord Mallack wants to harvest what we have sowed -- well not exactly sowed, but after all the trouble we had with getting you to the Blue Planet…"

"It was you who brought Golbez here?" Dawn gasped in Samon's grip, her teeth clenched, but still no sign of fear in her features.

"Of course... A man who 'appreciates' the dark powers can prove very useful for our organization. Besides he was the perfect bait to make some people uneasy. You know what I mean, fallen king?" Samon grinned at Cecil.

"You…" Before Cecil could say anything, Samon stopped him by tightening his grip around Dawn's neck. "I'm not here to talk… I want the crystal. _Now_!" He stroked roughly with his thumb along Dawn's chin. "Or I cannot guarantee for her safety."

"No... Don't give him the crystal!" Dawn shouted, trying desperately to get out of Samon's grasp. "He's lying! He wouldn't hurt me - I'm too precious for Mallack..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Samon hissed next to her. "He was very upset about your "betrayal", Milady…You know which one I mean…" He grinned at Cecil.

"Where will you go when you have me, Samon?" Golbez's dark voice demanded. "There's nowhere you could run to! And you can't possibly threaten two people at once with your silly toy..."

"That won't be necessary, because soon you'll understand. I do have a lovely present for you: An amulet which makes all your dreams come true! However--" Samon smiled, "maybe this won't even be necessary with your "tendencies"..."

Dawn looked shocked all of a sudden and for the first time her expression was showing signs of fear. "Don't come near here, Golbez! Please, don't give him the crystal! There's no hope for any of us if you do!"

"Shut your mouth!" Samon pressed the dagger deeper into Dawn's flesh, causing the woman to wince in pain.

"Let's give him the crystal…" Rosa urged, her features full of fear. "If we wait any longer he might hurt her!"

Cecil nodded wordlessly. Indeed they had no choice in this matter. 

"No..." Dawn's eyes filled with tears as she saw that Rosa gave the crystal to Golbez who took it nearly hesitantly, as if he was suspicious about the stone. "Rosa, don't! Trust me!" 

"Oh... So you've befriended both of them!" Samon smiled cruelly. "What an interesting plan..."

"That was no plan! Rosa is my friend," Dawn whispered, hoarsely.

"Oh... I wonder what your friend would say if she knew what you and her husband--"

"Shut your dirty mouth!" Golbez's voice thundered. "Your lies will deceive none of us!" He slowly moved into Samon's direction. "Let's end this..."

"Yes... _Let's end all this..." Samon stared at the crystal greedily, but took a step even closer to the cliff as if he was afraid of Golbez after all. Still, he loosened his grasp around Dawn's throat and now was holding her tightly at her shoulder, preparing to receive the object of his desire from the dark wizard's hands._

"I beg you..." Dawn whispered. "Don't give him the crystal... It might be the only chance to stop Mallack... Or why do you think he's after it?"

Golbez suddenly stopped in his approach, as he saw by Dawn's expression that her words were meant deadly serious.

"Master Golbez-- do you really want to listen to the prattle of a lovesick girl? As if she would care about the crystal… Don't frown, Paladin Cecil…" Samon's voice was sharp like a knife. "Come on, Lady Dawn - maybe you want to tell our young King of Baron here why you _really sought his help?! Surely not only because you wanted to fight Mallack…"_

Something in Dawn suddenly seemed to collapse and she went nearly limp into Samon's grasp, as if she did not care aboutthe knife pressed into her back any longer. She bowed her head, strands of her hair which was dampened by the salty moist air from the surf crashing into the cliffs below them falling into her tear-stained eyes.

"I really wanted to help him… To protect him…" she whispered, as if she was about to reveal a terrible truth. "But most of all I hoped that he would--" Dawn's voice trailed off and the little sigh which escaped her lips was not one of bitterness or regret, but seemed to accompany a sad, final acceptance of something. "It.. it doesn't matter now… Just believe me--" She raised her head, once more looking at Cecil and his friends who were watching her; worry and confusion in their faces. "No matter what my goals were -- I vowed never to betray any of you…" Dawn closed her eyes, a tear slowly trickling down her cheek. "And I won't do so… Even now!" 

"Dawn! No!" Cecil rushed forward as he saw how the young woman took a violent step back, pushing Samon to the edge of the cliff. The next thing seemed to happen before his eyes in slow motion:

"What--" Samon could not hold his footing any longer and tried to grab at Dawn's cloak, butit was to no avail: with a terrible cry of anger and rage he plunged down the cliff. Dawn's head turned around, looking after him.Asshe turned around again to face the group, she noticed for the first time that there was blood trickling down her white shirt. Slowly, she looked down at herself, eyes filling with a terrible realization as she carefully touched with her finger the wound where Samon's dagger had nearly pierced through her chest.

"No..." Rosa's voice was full of horror. Dawn raised her head and looked first at her with wide eyes, then at Cecil, who was storming towards the edge of the cliff: 

"Dawn, hold on!" As he had nearly reached her, the female Paladin suddenly raised a hand. 

"I did hold on long enough…" she whispered, her voice pain stricken, but with no fear in it. Terror surged up in the Paladin and he tried to run even faster. Dawn's lips were trembling. "Cecil... I told you that the time with Mallack had been the happiest time of my life...but...I lied…" 

And then she smiled, the saddest smile which possibly could exist, though in her eyes something started to flare up like…hope. Having seen it as well, Cecil reached forward, trying to keep hold of her as she started to sway and for a moment it seemed as if she wanted to grab for his hand. But then, the sparkle of hope in her eyes disappeared and under the unbelieving look of the Paladin she fell backwards. As she plunged into the depths, still sadly smiling, her lips formed three words:

"I love you…" 

A harsh wind began to blow.


	20. Chapter 19: Eternal falling

_(Very short) author's note: Just one thing: Thanks to all "new"(and old) reviewers and their feedback! Don't stop now! ^_^  And now to the" darker" sides of life: _

**19.**

_Eternal falling_

"Dawn... Why...?" Cecil was kneeling at the edge of the cliff, head bowed, not able to hold back his tears.

Rosa stumbled forward, slowly, a hand before her mouth until she fell to her knees as well, shedding her tears into the cold earth. Even Kain had to turn his head away; lest the others should not see his grief.  Yang had his head bowed, as well as Rydia, who was clutching her cloak around her shoulders, shivering.  Golbez had turned his back towards the others, looking at the crystal in his hand and shaking his head now and then.

"Why...why did she do this?" Rydia asked, her voice thin and trembling.

"I don't know… But we...we should have listened to her... but I... I did give the crystal away..." Rosa sobbed, hardly able to speak. She crawled up to her husband, gazing down at the waves below them which crashed against the rocks mercilessly.  "Is... is she really gone?"

Cecil could only nod as words failed him-- he could not believe what just had happened. _"Dawn... She's dead... We'll never see her again... and her last words..."_

"Oh my god..." he whispered, full of grief.  "If I had known how she felt... I was so stupid. I might have done something..."

"Would you have?!" Golbez whirled around suddenly, his voice thick with bitterness - as Cecil looked up he realized that his brother's eyes were filled with sorrow and grief, but also anger in an intensive form he had not seen since they had met.

As Golbez, on the other hand, saw the tear stained face of Cecil, who never once had cried before the others as far as he could remember, his expression softened.  "There was nothing you or any of us could have done. She was able to help all of us, but the one person she couldn't help was herself. Her past with Mallack... her own unfulfilled desires... It was too much for her… In the moment she took the step back, she knew that she would run into Samon's dagger," the dark haired wizard said.

_"While she instilled in every one of us hope, there was no hope left for her…"_ Tears were shooting into Cecil's eyes again.

"I... I don't believe this… I cannot believe that she had wanted to die…"

"No, maybe not. But she also no longer wanted to live…" Golbez stared at him, his face once again expressionless and then, shrugging slightly, he turned around and was lost in his own thoughts.

"There... there must have been a way... she was my friend... I..." Rosa started to cry even harder again, falling into Cecil's arms.

Cecil cradled her close, closing his eyes - though the feeling of each other gave both comfort in this time, he knew, as well as his wife, that it had been one thing that had brought Dawn to her death...

They stayed for a while at the cliffside, each one grieving in their own way, though especially for Cecil it seemed as if a million years would not be enough to cope with this tragedy and the sorrow it had brought over each one of the companions, not to speak of getting over it.

Finally, it was Golbez who was the first to react again. He wandered over to his brother and stretching out his hand, offered the crystal to him. "Dawn wished that we use this crystal to stop Mallack... So we should respect her last wish and do just that..." he said in a low voice.

"He's right," Kain said darkly, his eyes still glassy.

Cecil slowly loosened himself from Rosa's embrace and nodded, slowly.  "Yes... Mallack will pay for this dearly..." he whispered, and it was not only a promise but a resolution he would follow until the last…

**~*~**

Silently, the group continued its way to Mysidia. As dusk was breaking, they finally were able to see the town's crystal tower sparkling in the evening sun.  As on the road before, the town seemed strangely without life and the normal bustle of the wizards on the street had been replaced by an eerie silence. 

"The town looks like it's dead…" Kain whispered. "Maybe Mallack was faster than us again and is only waiting for us..."

"If this is a trap, it would be best to divide," Golbez remarked. "That way they will never be able to strike down all of us."

Despite this rather depressing view on future happenings, Cecil agreed.  "Very well... one group will try to find the Elder, why the other one will search the town... Rydia, Yang, will you please check Mysidia? And--" He shot Yang a meaningful look, which his friend interpreted correctly.

"Sure. Rosa, will you please accompany us as well?" Yang asked her.

The young queen gasped and looked at her husband, accusingly. 

"Rosa, please..." Cecil told her.  "If we both would get caught, Baron would have had no ruler left... The enemy mustn't kill both--" Seeing his wife's eyes widen, he corrected himself: "They mustn't get us both in their hands…" He stepped closer and stroked her face, softly. "Dear... I promise that I'll be careful. Kain and Golbez are with me, too. And Da--" He stopped, his heart once more getting confronted with the terrible truth: Dawn's voice and bright laughter had died away for all eternity.

Rosa swallowed hard, fighting back tears, but nodded. "Alright. If Dawn could give her life to help, I can as well forget for once my worries..." 

They embraced and then split up, Cecil, Golbez and Kain leaving into direction of Mysidia's main building.

~*~

"I wonder where all the people are..." Kain wondered, as they reached the great doors of the impressive crystal tower. No guards were to be seen.

"Reminds me of Baron..." Cecil frowned and tried to open the door, carefully. To his surprise it opened without resistance.  It was clear that this could only mean a trap, but still, the three men knew that they had not much choice in the matter.

"Don't let down your guard," Golbez whispered as they entered the unusual dark halls of the sanctum, their footsteps echoing on the marble floor. 

The entrance hall of the tower was as empty as the town, but as the door to the inner sanctum came nearer, voices could be heard from the crystal room.  Cecil motioned his companions to stay behind him, in order to watch his back and carefully approached the door. The white door was not closed completely but was ajar and the Paladin was able to take a peek into the room through a little crack. What he saw was what he had expected, but still it filled his heart with sorrow to see his fears once again justified.

In the bright lit crystal room most of Mysidia's townsfolk seemed to have gathered, and was listening intently to a Black wizard, who stood on the top stair of the long-empty crystal dais.

As the man spoke rather loud, Cecil was able to catch some details of his speech:

"After the fall of Zeromus, Mysidia has sadly entered the cage of dependence of other countries out of seemingly free will. The Mysidians have always been a strong-going community, a city of science and magic, a pearl of wisdom under the towns of the Blue Planet. So why did we have to make treaties with Baron, the one Kingdom which once tried to destroy our beautiful town and plundered it so ruthlessly? Have the Mysidians lost their honour?"

"Cecil..." Kain whispered from behind, but the Paladin was too intently eavesdropping than to listen to his friend.

The Black Wizard continued: "Many of you have lost loved ones, siblings, parents or friends in these attacks and now we shall trust foul subjects like the King of Baron who was the former head of Baron's forces and lead the attack on our town?  A man who's made Baron even more invincible than before by allying with the houses of Fabul and Eblana?  A man who, as I know from a reliable source, is now even housing the fiend Golbez in his castle?  He may have become a Paladin, but it wasn't our spirits who accepted him, but a Lunarian and his own father on top of that!  Our Elder may defend him as much as he wants, as well as some others who do not understand that the treaties with Baron will only lead to an occupation of the town by Baronian forces, but we will show them the truth!  Baron with its cursed King is not a country to ally with, but an enemy one has to fight for the sake of freedom!"

The black wizard talked on and on, now accompanied by loud cheers of the crowd - Cecil used the moment to withdraw from the scene and leaned on the door, pale, his heart beating fast. 

_"By all that is holy... We're too late! They are already under Mallack's control and obviously it wasn't even hard... The people showed even less resistance than the ones in Tororia! And I seem to be the cause of it… The hate against me is so strong... They might even attack the Kingdom, and in this state with hardly any allies left and no troupes I can trust, Baron is helpless… If Mysidia decides to strike at the Kingdom with its full magical force, it--" _

He tried to calm down and reminded himself that he had not spotted the Elder amongst the crowd, so maybe there was hope left after all. At the same time he wondered whether Jonas had been listening to the teachings of the wizard - in view of the hate the young man held against him, it was very likely.  Cecil turned around to tell Kain and Golbez about what he had heard, but to his surprise they did not stand where he had left them.

"Kain? Golbez? Where are you?" He hissed - only silence answered him.  Suddenly he heard a whisper out of one of the dark corridors leading away from the hall.  "Kain? Is that you?" Cecil carefully followed the noise, laying his hand on the hilt of his sword.

As he rounded the corner, he spotted the silhouettes of two figures in the darkness of the hall.

"There's just another intruder!  Hey - you there!  Halt!"  One of the figures shouted upon seeing him.

"Okay... wrong direction..." Cecil murmured and turned around swiftly, returning to the hall which led to the Crystal room. As he tried to retrace his steps back to the entrance hall, though, his way was blocked by a group of three other persons. One of them cast light, the bright flash revealing Cecil's identity to everyone.

"It's the King of Baron!  How dare he set his foot in our holy halls!" One of the black wizards shouted - Cecil decided to break through the group and prepared himself, but he quickly changed his plans as the door of the crystal sanctum opened and a mass of townspeople came swarming out, obviously startled by the shout of the guard. Several people began to scream at once:

"It's the Dark Knight who led the attack!" 

"He has my son on his conscience!" 

Cecil saw no other way out than to dart in a corridor next to him, hoping that somewhere there would be an exit. He reached an intersection** - **to his left and right, voices were audible as well. He hurriedly followed the corridor in front of him, only to find himself standing at another intersection. Trying to navigate his way through a seemingly endless maze of narrow, dark passages, the angry shouts of the Mysidian people ringing into his ear**s**, the Paladin soon felt like he was experiencing his worst nightmare. 

From everywhere, angry wizards seemed to emerge, trying to block his way -White wizards and Black Mages, even adepts, who were still children, had changed into a furious wave, trying to crush him. Cecil raced down some stairs, realizing that instead of reaching the exit, he was entering the Crystal tower deeper and deeper and that the crowd behind him had no intention of abandoning the chase on him - there was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, as well as no means to soothe their anger.

_"What could I possibly tell them?  What could I tell them to apologize for what I have done?"_

"Now we finally can get our revenge!"  The shouts had become very loud, and the constant screams "Murderer! Murderer!" hurt in the ears of the Paladin.

_"Murderer… Jonas called me that, too…"_

Panting, Cecil ran around a corner into another dark corridor - too late, he noticed that it was a dead end.  He turned around - the shouting and the magical cones of light which sparkled around the corner were a safe indication that his pursuers were not far away from him. 

"Murderer! False Paladin! You'll pay for what you did to us with your blood!"  The voices were so loud now, as if the crowd had already surrounded him - he was caught like a mouse in a trap.

For maybe the first time in his life, Cecil felt real panic surging up in him; a dark, gloomy might seemed to overcome his whole being, clouding his mind and paralyzing every limb of his body. Thoughts swirled though his head - whether he really deserved such a fate; whether he could have done something else… They mixed with pieces of memories showing up before his inner eye: 

_The attack on Mysidia…The rattling of his dark armour as he had crossed the great hall, blood everywhere to his feet... Rydia's village burning... His ascent to __Mt.__Ordeals__ and the light and sound of his father's voice in the shrine… But then: Blood on Dawn's shirt… And once again the rattling of his dark armour as he had crossed the great hall, people begging and crying at his feet… _

He remembered the night in which had quarrelled with Jonas and had realized more than ever before, that the past was not changeable.  "_Were all my tries to atone in vain? Is this how everything shall end? My own dark past finally bringing me to fall…"_

The voices and footsteps of the Mysidians came nearer and nearer - soon they would find him. For a second, Cecil thought about fighting to the last, but he knew that he could not win against the crowd and that dragging young people, some of them still children, with him into death would help no one. His back to the wall, he slumped down to the floor, hoping that at least Golbez and Kain were in safety. And…

_"Rosa..."_

The darkness of his own guilt and past engulfing him was so strong that he no longer could even feel fear in this moment, only utter desperation -- The shouts of the incoming crowd ringing into his ears, he closed his eyes; awaiting whatever might come... 

Awaiting his inevitable end...


	21. Chapter 20: Deceptive light

**20.**

_Deceptive light_

_"Awaiting my inevitable end..."_

Which did not come -- suddenly the wall behind Cecil gave way, and someone pulled him through the opening rather roughly. 

"Stupid as ever!" a familiar voice hissed and a torch was lit.  Cecil opened his eyes, only slowly recovering from his former rigidity.

"Jonas?" he asked weakly, trying to get a better look at the brown-haired boy before him. They were sitting in a little corridor, with a ceiling so low that one could hardly stand. To Cecil's right, the secret door had closed again.  Outside, he could hear the surprised and furious shouts of his pursuers.

"Hey! Someone in there?" Jonas waved his hand beforeCecil's face, as the other still seemed to be in some kind of shock.  "You can be grateful that I heard the ruckus outside, or your head would decorate the crystal sanctuary by now!" the boy snarled and then pulled at the Paladin's arm, impatiently. 

"You better pull yourself together now and get up! Who knows if some of these madmen outside will discover this secret tunnel?"

"Y-yeah..." Cecil slowly stood up, his legs feeling unsteady.

Jonas watched him skeptically, but stood up himself, and motioned him with his hand to follow. The farther they got away from the door, the more muffled the voices of the angry townsfolk became, and slowly blood returned to Cecil's face and he regained his composure. 

"You...you saved me Jonas... Why?" he finally asked the boy.

Abruptly, Jonas came to a halt and turned around slowly, facing the Paladin with an earnest expression. "I didn't want to feel guilty for the death of another person… Besides, you promised to help me carry the guilt for Lina's death.  So I decided that I would not let you get away…" There seemed to lay the slightest hint of a smile on the lips of the boy. 

"That... Jonas..." A wave of great relief and infinite gratefulness surged up in the Paladin and he was short of dropping down to his knees before Jonas just to express his feelings.

The boy seemed to sense this. "Now don't start with any funny stuff like kissing my boots or something. A simple "thank you" is enough!" he snapped, though judging from his expression, Cecil's reaction embarrassed him.

The Paladin could feel how a heavy load was taken from his soul, taking away even slightly the horror of his recent experiences. He bowed before the boy: "Thank you, Jonas. I can imagine what it might have cost you to help me. And I will never forget what you did for me," he said, laying all the seriousness and honesty he possessed into his words.   

Now, a slight smile crept visibly over the face of the boy, but then his expression returned to stubbornness again. "Whatever.  You owe me one for that, Paladin... And you can start right now.  The Elder and a few others are at the end of these tunnels, but there's no telling when these madmen will find out where we're hiding. We need to bring them to a safe place."

Cecil nodded, reminding himself of the reason they had come to Mysidia.  "Certainly. You called your people madmen - do you think that they only behave this way because they're...let's say, under a spell?" he asked the boy, while continuing to follow the way.

Jonas shrugged. "I don't know… All I know is that shortly after you'd left, some guys of a group called the Dark Paladins came to Mysidia and started recruiting people... I became suspicious as one of my friends entered their ranks; all day speaking about finding our true roots again and freeing the town from the clutches of Baron. Perhaps I'm no big admirer of your Kingdom..." he frowned, before adding in a stubborn way: "But no one is telling me what to like and what not!"

Only the seriousness of their situation was keeping Cecil from smiling - it seemed as if the ice between him and the boy had melted a lot. 

"Was your friend by any chance in the possession of an amulet?" Cecil fumbled in his pocket and took out the black stone he and the othershad stolen from the sanctuary.  "With a stone similar to this one in it?"

Jonas regarded it shortly. "Could be... At least he murmured something about some kind of powerful trinket every member of the group gets…"

Cecil nodded. "He surely meant this black stone - it probably strengthens certain powers. I'm sure that your friends are under a spell… Do you know if the leader of the "Dark Paladins" is still in town?  A man with black hair and black armour?"

Jonas smiled quizzically: "Look: it's the _Dark Paladins_! They are ALL were wearing black armour... Dunno anything about a leader or such.  If you still have questions, you better ask the Elder… We're already there."

He pushed a secret button in the wall, and the stones in front of them slid away noiselessly, revealing a rather big storage room dimly lit by candles and occupied by about ten Mysidian wizards as well as some familiar faces.

"Hey dude!  Long time no seen!" Parom approached them together with his sister. 

"Cecil, good to see you… We already thought that something had happened to you!" The little girl smiled.

Cecil greeted them, happy that the twins were in safety. Then he spotted the Elder who was sitting on a rather shabby looking chair at one end of the room, appearing exhausted and deeply troubled. It seemed as if the Mysidian had even aged more since their last visit.

"Elder! It is good to know that you're safe," Cecil addressed him.

"Paladin Cecil!" The Elder rose from his seat, smiling warmly, though the look of worry did not leave his eyes. "As you can see my people have not only turned against Baron, but against me, as well…"

"Do not worry - this is only the result of foul magic," Cecil tried to console him, though he himself knew that there was more behind it.

The Elder was aware of this fact, as well. "We both know that this is not the whole truth… You may find yourself responsible for the things Baron did to Mysidia in the past, but the real fault lies in my incompetence: I was not able to teach my people that forgiveness is a virtue as well and that you and your Kingdom took on much to right the wrong you so unwillingly committed… Because if I had done so, there wouldn't have been such a great rage sleeping in my people.  I am glad that you made it here, safely." 

He nodded towards Jonas. "Good work…" 

The boy mumbled something incomprehensible and took a seat on of the storage boxes that were scattered in the room.

Cecil looked around. "Elder, have you seen my friends? They--"

"Cecil, there you are!" Kain and Golbez, accompanied by a white wizard, were emerging from another secret door which just had opened.   

"Ah!  It seems that your friends were saved by our brave wizards as well," The Elder faced the newcomers. "Sir Kain and...Sir Golbez I presume?"

At the mention of Golbez's name, a murmur went through the room and several people including Jonas shot the dark wizard a skeptical look. Golbez grinned slightly--the reaction of the people was nothing new for him.

"We shouldn't greet a guest in such a way..." the Elder admonished. "In these dark times in which friends become foes, foes surely can become allies as well."

The murmur of the wizards stopped at once.

"I'm glad that you set trust in us after all that has happened…" Cecil told the Elder, although when it came to his brother, he himself was still not so sure about the "ally" part.

The Mysidian cleared his throat. "It was time for that… I have to admit that as you visited us, inquiring about the Crystal, I didn't trust your judgment concerning your brother. I'm not even sure if I trusted _you_ fully. But now, once again, you and your friends are the only ones helping us, although it seems to me that we didn't deserve your help after all that happened. I know that the behaviour of my people made you suffer… My deepest apologies once again, Paladin Cecil."

"Elder, now don't over exaggeratethings--he didn't even get hurt!" Jonas grumbled, only to add: "Not that I wished for that… But more important is why he has come here…" He motioned for Cecil to continue.

"We're looking for the head behind the Dark Paladins.  It is a man named Mallack," Cecil explained.

"Mallack?" The Elder reflected for a moment. "I think some of these black knights spoke of him, but I cannot say that I know him. Some of my wizards were able to catch a glimpse of their leader yesterday.  Sir Samon is his name, I think…"

"That fiend!"  Kain clenched his fist. "They arrived here by airship, did they?"

The Elder nodded. "I believe so... The strange thing is that it looked exactly like one of ships from a construction scroll we got as gift from King Cecil after the Crystal wars. I wonder how they got their hands on it..."

"They probably had their spies for a long time in all towns. It must have been an easy game for them, especially here in Mysidia where the hate on Baron is so strong…" Cecil mused.

The elder nodded, his bald forehead creased with a heavy frown. "Yes... I'm ashamed that my children could be led astray by their hate and need for revenge so easily... But as said: I was no good example. Before I had realized the danger the Dark Paladins posed, they had infiltrated our ranks. Some of the guards even threatened to arrest me, unless I would declare war on your country. So I and some loyal fellow wizards had to hide in these old storerooms only a few people know about. These are indeed hard times where one has to hide from his own people…"

"We had to flee from Baron as well..." Cecil informed him "Tororia is under the influence of the enemy as well as Damcyan..."

"I see..." The Elder nodded. "And I can see also that you had to endure losses even more hard… I thought that Zeromus was bad, but this enemy who strikesout of the secret is far more fearful.  What do you plan to do?"

"We'll have to find Mallack, but we don't know where he hides.We hoped he would be here. The good news is that we retrieved the crystal shard from a sanctuary in Tororia, as well as this strange black stone..." Cecil showed the black lump to the Elder. "We believe that this stone is the reason why the manipulative powers of Samon and Mallack work so well… Can you say anything about it?"

"Hmm..." The Elder looked at the stone thoughtfully and then touched it, carefully, only to draw his hand away in shock at once. "What dark power..." he murmured. Taking a deep breath, he took the stone in his hand and examined it. "I'll need to take acloser look at it," he finally said and called for some of the other wizards including Jonas. 

"This might take a while..." he said, "so try to get some rest…" 

While the Mysidians examined the stone, Cecil and his friends sat down on some boxes and were soon joined by Porom and Palom who had a lot of questions. To Cecil's relief Kain took it on him to answer their questions as patiently as he could. Normally, the dragoon was not fond of  kids - especially not of these two, but as his friend looked quite exhausted, it was the least he could do.

"I hope that Rosa and the others are alright..." Cecil murmured, his gaze directed at the floor.

"I'm more worried about you... You had a narrow escape back there, didn't you?" Golbez's question was posed unusually gentle.

"Yes…" His brother admitted. "I didn't know that there was still so much hate left in the people of Mysidia..."

He looked up. "I did realize something, though. I believe that I was too pushy concerning your person, Golbez. Since you came to the Blue Planet again, I didn't understand that you just couldn't leave the past behind… I pretended that nothing had happened between us in the past and expected from you the same. But today I had to learn once again that the past is something that can't be forgotten so easily... I should have left you more time instead of expecting that you would live with us like a big brother - especially as such a happy little family has never existed in our lives." 

Golbez looked at Cecil, his eyes full of pain, his expression nearly angry.  "You just won't learn, will you, Cecil?  Don't make things any harder on me than they already are!" He snorted a desperate laugh. "There I use all the nastiness I manage, insult you, put a strain on you to my utmost in order to keep you away from me, even keep secrets from you… And what is the result? You even apologize…for my faults!  Damn, were you always that way or did father make you so…so…I don't know what.  Is it stubbornness or stupidity?" 

"But Golbez…" Cecil stared at his brother speechlessly; his reaction hit him totally by surprise.  

"Cecil…" Golbez suddenly grabbed him at both shoulders, his grip so hard it nearly hurt and looked at him with stern eyes: "Can't you understand?  Don't worry about me... Forget that I'm your brother.  Stay away from me, no matter how hard it is. You don't need me--you're strong, stronger than you might know.  So..." his voice was suddenly very dark and full of foreboding, "if you'd have to choose between me and yourself: don't choose me! Never! And most of all: don't trust me..." he said, his voice a low whisper now. As if being driven by some inner force, he abruptly let go of Cecil's shoulder and stood up, wandering to another place in the room.

The Paladin bit his lip.  As much as Jonas' forgiveness had made his heart feel lighter, Golbez's words made it several times heavier once more.  Luckily, the Elder had finished his examination by now and directed the thoughts of Cecil to other things.

"This is astounding..." he said, "it...it is some kind of crystal... Though molten and infused with some kind of dark power...some power of old..." The friends exchanged glances.

"Some dark power like Zeromus's one?" Kain asked.

"Perhaps… Maybe we didn't kill Zeromus back then and some part of his being made his way to Earth?"

"Or the stone has just a similar origin to the one of Zeromus… He was a Lunarian, but who said that such an evil might have only come into the existence on the moon?" Cecil wondered.

"We used some spells on it," the Elder informed them, "We couldn't even scratch it, but observed that black magic spells have multiplied powers when cast near the stone... So your suspect that it strengthens the manipulative powers of our enemies is right. They probably cast a spell on their victims and through the influence of the black stone, it does not wear of…" 

"And one can't destroy it?" Kain asked.

The Elder shook his head. "No... There seems to be some kind of barrier around it. As if the stone is getting fed by a greater power."

"But if they possess such a great source of power, why would the Dark Paladins try to destroy the crystals?" Cecil took out the other stone and examined the sparkling shard of light. "Only to destroy the symbol of friendship between the Blue Planet and the Lunarians?"

"That's unlikely…" the Elder murmured. "Let me try something…" He took the crystal out of Cecil's hand and held it close to the black stone.  Suddenly a faint humming could be heard. 

"Look! The crystal seems to resonate with the dark stone..." Kain gasped.

"Yes, but only weakly... Maybe…" The elder straightened himself. "Paladin Cecil, would you try it?"

His suggestion made Cecil feel slightly uncomfortable._ "He thinks that I can use the power of the crystal or at least strengthen it, but--"_ He remembered the fight with Zeromus where it indeed had functioned, but this had been a long time ago.

The Paladin could feel the expectant looks of the others on him--especially the gaze of Jonas…and his brother.  Hesitating, he took the two stones from the Elder and closed his hands around them, trying to concentrate.  The humming grew louder, but nothing else happened. He handed the stones back to the Elder. 

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem to work..." 

The Mysidian was not able to hide a certain disappointment.  He seemed to have been very sure that his plan would work. He opened his mouth, as if to tell Cecil to try again, but the Paladin only shook his head.

"Great, but what could you expect from him?" Jonas grumbled.

Cecil himself felt disappointed and he wondered if Dawn would have been better able to bring out the power of the crystal--or out of him. _"She would have scolded me… 'Trust yourself'..."_

"Wait…" Cecil said to the Elder as he was about to wrap the crystal into a piece of cloth.

Without a word, but smiling, the Mysidian handed him the jewels again.  Holding the two stones clasped tightly in his hands, Cecil closed his eyes and concentrated once more, trying to think of nothing else than the objects in his hand. Once again, the dark waves of the black stone forced their way into his soul and reached for his heart with an icy grasp, but the Paladin just tried to ignore them, trying to grasp the warmth of the crystal. This time, he was not disappointed, as slowly light seemed to fill his mind, a calm light which brought peace to his troubled heart for moment - then Cecil heard a high-pitched sound and something, similar to a painful explosion seemed to rock through his being... 

"By Bahamut!  Cecil..." He heard Kain gasp.

The Paladin's eyes snapped open immediately.  Everyone around him was staring at his open hands: the crystal shard was shining faintly, lying on a pile of black dust.

"The crystal has destroyed the black stone..." Jonas stared at the remains of the cursed item.

"Yes! That means that we still have a chance!" Kain balled his hand to a fist out of enthusiasm.  "If the crystal can penetrate the shield around the black stones and destroy them, we might be able to destroy the source of power which feds them, as well--" 

"--thus rendering all the little stones useless and releasing Mallack's victims!" the Elder stroked his beard, thoughtfully. "This all sounds rather vague in the moment, but fact is that our enemies had a strong interest in destroying the crystals: obviously not only to render the Lunarian inventions helpless, but as they probably know about the danger the might of the Crystals poses to their plan…" 

"Now the only question is where Mallack is hiding... It is quite likely that this "source" of power we're talking about is there, as well…" Cecil frowned, carefully thinking, although for the first time since Dawn's death, hope seemed to flare up in the Paladin again.

"Well… We're talking about an old lump of stone here. Maybe we should reflect about where Mallack might have found such a thing? How about some cave or something else deep under the earth?" Golbez suddenly proposed, having watched the whole scene with interest, but without saying much.

Cecil and Kain exchanged glances. "The island mines near Silvera!" both exclaimed nearly at the same time.

"Yes. These little isolated islands are a perfect place to hide upon, even to build some kind of headquarter without anyone noticing it!" The Elder nodded. He cleared his throat, his expression rather embarrassed all of a sudden.  "So, might we ask you again to help us?  Although the Dark Paladins are a danger threatening all of us, I would also understand if you would decline. You have done so much for us and especially we Mysidians have not done much to return the favour…"

Cecil shook his head: "That is not important, maybe we did not always give you much reason to trust us, as well. Of course we will help.  In fact we don't even have a choice in this matter," he continued. "Our own people are also under Mallack's spell and lives have been lost already... Precious lives…" 

"He's right." Kain stepped forward. "That's not only something we're doing for the kingdoms, but something personal as well. Mallack has toyed with us long enough!"

The Elder bowed, a sign of respect he did not show very often: "I cannot say how grateful I'm... And hopefully I don't speak for myself alone..." He shot Jonas a skeptical look. "All I can do to help you, is to give you the crystal: Do with it what you want in order to bring peace to the Blue Planet again.."

As Cecil was about to store away the precious shard, loud voices were audible, coming from the outside of the room.

"Oh no! They've found us…" the Elder gasped. "Quickly, you have to flee from here as I can not guarantee for your lives!"

"But what about you? We need to bring you to a safe place!" Cecil insisted.

The Elder shook his head. "No... I don't believe that we are in real danger.  My people would never harm me!  They only want to bring me onto their side…"

"Besides we're here as well to protect the Elder!" Palom and Porom exclaimed. As they saw Cecil frown with worry, they added: "Don't worry! We will not use the "Stone" spell again, at least not on ourselves!"

"What are you waiting for? You heard that we'll get along without you!  I'll bring you outside…" Jonas said, earning surprised looks from the Elder and the group in return.

"Will you stop staring!  I'm only trying to help!" the boy murmured, visibly embarrassed. He pushed open another secret door at the end of the room. "Through here!"

Wishing the Elder and the remaining Mysidians much luck, Cecil, Golbez and Kain followed the young man though the door, right into another maze of tunnels. Behind them, they could hear the noise of a door being broken open and the angry shouts of some wizards.

"Quick!  It's not far!" Jonas whispered and the group doubled their steps.

"Oh no! They're following us..." Kain hissed.  Indeed, as Cecil looked around, he could spot several people entering the secret tunnel as well. Then the first ice bolt soared over their heads.

"Darn! They're using spells..." Jonas cursed and suddenly stopped.

"What are you doing?" Cecil asked him, surprised.

The young boy looked at him, a grim determination on his face. "You leave this maze. The exit is just around the next corner.  I'll stop them…"

"Jonas… No! You're no match for them!" Cecil shook his head, although he knew that even if they all would fight, they could not win against the wizards, who were in the majority.

The boy glared at him. "This is not about winning, but about buying enough time so that you can get your lazy butts out of here! I said that you should go... NOW! And stay alive, Paladin. As well as I will..." He grinned, though his eyes were dead serious. "We do have a deal, don't forget it..."

"I won't ever forget it…Thank you, Jonas!" Cecil would have liked to tell the boy more, but there was no time for it: their pursuers had already become dangerously close and if they wanted to escape, he had to do it now, no matter how much the decision of leaving Jonas behind was inertly tearing the Paladin up. But Jonas was right, there was no other choice.

"Please take care!" Cecil shouted, shooting the boy one last worried glance, before he quickly followed his friends into the dark tunnel ahead.

"You can bet!" Jonas closed his eyes and murmured some incantations to protect himself from the coming fight. Then he turned around and faced the incoming Mysidian wizards - some of the faces were familiar to him, being former friends or acquaintances, but as Jonas beheld the wild expression of the people, he had to realize to his horror that the Elder had underestimated the power of the spell lying on their people. These Mysidians were no longer willing to distinguish between friend and foe, but had only one goal: Taking revenge on the former Dark Knight Cecil, no matter what stood in their way -- or who.

"_Shit!_" Was the last thing the boy murmured, before he prepared casting the most powerful spell of his young life so far.

~*~

As Cecil had reached the last step of the ladder leading out of the tunnel, a great explosion from below catapulted him outside onto the grass.

_"Jonas… No..."_

The Paladin scrambled to his feet and stared at the opening in the ground next to him: Smoke was coming out of it and the shouts of their pursuers had stopped abruptly.

"Jonas!" he shouted desperately. No answer came.

For a second, Cecil dared to think that Jonas might have survived the impact, but he knew as well that he could not risk to venture down into the tunnels, again, but had to go on as it had been Jonas' wish--and Dawn's.

Thus, he swallowed his grief, feeling it seeping down his soul like a thick, sticky mass, covering his heart and making it feel heavy. Feeling strangely numb, as if the blood had stopped rushing through his body, he followed Golbez and Kain into the dead streets of Mysidia.****

**~*~**

They found Rosa and the others very quickly - all houses in the town were empty, so the young Queen, Rydia and Yang had waited for the others near the town gate. Rosa watched her husband with a worried look as he informed her and the others shortly about what had happened in the tower. Though he did only roughly mention his escape from the Mysidian crowd and Jonas' decision to stop their pursuers, Rosa seemed to feel that these experiences had disturbed her husband greatly.

"Don't worry too much... I'm sure that the Elder and Jonas will be fine. After all, the Mysidians were after you, Golbez and Kain. Mallack's magic might be strong, but remember that it only strengthens existent feelings. I cannot believe that it can make people kill members of their family or friends…"

"Unless they had a grudge against them…" Golbez murmured and earned an evil look from his brother, which seemed to amuse the black wizard greatly though.

"So it's the archipelago near Silvera..." Rydia sighed. Obviously she wasn't looking forward to travelling once again.

"Yes… We better start walking back to our ship right now..." Cecil suggested, but was held back by Kain.

"Maybe we don't have to walk at all!" The dragoon pointed to a little speck on the dark horizon which neared with great speed.

"That's Cid!" 

In fact, it was the _Enterprise _which landed on a field a bit outside of town.  How Edge and Cid had managed to repair it in just one day was beyond Cecil's understanding, although on a closer look, especially the propeller of the ship looked rather scrappy. Luckily, the friends were too nervous and exhausted to worry about this too much…

"We have to get away from here as fast as possible!" Yang shouted upon approaching the ship. "Mysidia's under Mallack's control and your arrival surely did not stay unnoticed!"

"Alright!" the engineer shouted. "Everyone on board!  Hey, where's Lady Dawn?"

The silence and Rosa's sobbing was the only answer he got.  Edge started to knead on arm nervously as if to check if this all was reality. "Don't say she's... she's…?" 

"There was nothing we could do..." Golbez said, his expression deeply serious.

"That's not true!" Rosa snapped at him and for the first time tension seemed to build up between the young woman and the brother of her husband. Both turned around to face Cecil, as if waiting for his reaction. The Paladin just regarded his brother with a very earnest expression, as if something in him was too tired to be even angry.

"Let's save this discussion for later," He said. "For now let's leave here at once. It's… To Silvera!"

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_ Don't forget to review! And this time, for once, the end wasn't a mean cliffhanger… (okay, maybe the stuff that happened before was mean… ;) _


	22. Chapter 21: Bitter dawn

**21.**

_Bitter dawn_

The next hours of flight were probably the most dejected ones ever -- the mood of the group seemed to have reached its lowest point so far. No one talked much as the grief and disbelief due to Dawn's loss, Jonas' sacrifice and Mallack's doing in Mysidia were still too overwhelming. Only Yang found the strength to explain the sad happenings to Cid and Edge in his own, calm and very dignified way.

Cecil was leaning on the railing, his white hair blowing into his face and the harsh flight wind stinging his eyes, but he did not care, as his thoughts were occupied with other things. His mind and body felt so heavy; so tired--all the happenings of the last hours had worn him out so much, that he had no strength left to grieve. There was only this weariness and the strange feeling that all this was unreal, that in the next minute everything would be like it used to be -- though he did not even seem to remember _how_ things had been before. 

It was not the first time that they had to cope with the loss of people on a mission - there had been Rydia's mother, Tellah, Anna. Being warriors and mages, it was a risk Cecil and his friends had to carry - death was always as well an option as victory and staying alive, although they all tried to put aside this fact as best as they could. And even if the worst case happened, they had always found the strength to overcome their sadness at least for a while.  Now, for the first time, Cecil wondered how they had been able to do so. How could he ever live a normal life after what had happened this day - this day where they had lost not only one, but probably two friends? With her action, Dawn had tried to give them a chance, but the Paladin had the impression that she had only taken all hope with her down the cliff.

Never had the loss of people been so needless in his eyes, so futile, such a madness. The horrors of the alien might of Zeromus, the nightmare of the Giant of Babil, the voyage to a barren moon -- all these just seemed to be insignificant trifles in contrast to the things which were happening now. They had become the enemies of their own people, had to escape like fugitives, had no one to help them. And the worst thing was that even _if_ they could defeat Mallack, there was no telling what would happen to the townspeople… Would the spell over them really be broken? After all Mallack had only used their greatest innermost fears and wished for his own purpose. Cecil wondered if everything he and the rulers of the Blue Planet had done after the defeat of Zeromus had beenso wrong.

_"Things will never be the same again…"_

Desperation soared up in the Paladin -- as well as the wish that time would just stop, that this river called life would stop flowing for a minute… but it didn't. Slowly, he watched the sun going up, bathing the sky in a red-orange light, though this morning the colour had something cruel to it.

"Dawn..." he whispered and felt the sting of his salty tears in his eyes again.  Suddenly two gentle arms were embracing him from behind and he felt silky locks against his skin.  Rosa had approached him with faint steps and was leaning at his shoulder, eyes half closed.

"I was thinking about her, too…" she said softly.

Cecil nodded and swallowed heavily, though he was grateful for the warmth and comfort of his wife by his side.  "I should have known that she felt more for me… Maybe I knew, but I was so selfish… I didn't want to loose her as a friend, so I never talked to her about it…" He realized how every touch, every nice word of his must have tormented Dawn. 

Rosa raised her head, so that Cecil could look into her big blue eyes. Her gaze was full of sorrow and guilt and spoke out what his wife thought even before she had uttered one word: 

"Deep in my heart I…I knew it as well, I think... But…but somehow I didn't care. There was nothing possessive in her desire, nothing I was afraid of. Besides, I trusted you, Cecil. She always understood so well -- about my feelings, about yours… It was like you could share all your sorrows with her and she made them disappear."

"Yes, she always thought only of the well being of others… Until her last breath. She even accepted our love." Cecil tore his gaze away from the rising sun and embraced Rosa more tightly, her former words soothing his mind a bit, as they meant that he was not alone in his guilt. "For our own comfort we took advantage of Dawn's feeling..." he murmured quietly, stroking the golden locks of his wife. 

"You know that this is not true," Golbez said and joined the couple at the railing. "It was her own decision to stay by your side and this decision was right in her eyes... Although in the eyes of others, things might look different." He sounded bitter and Cecil started to wonder, again, if there had been more to whathis brother had felt for Dawn…

"Still her death was needless!" Rosa looked up, her gaze tearstained and nearly defiant. "I still believe that things would have ended differently if we had taken more care of Dawn!"

"I think so as well, but Golbez does not believe in hope. For him, everything seems to be prefabricated - even the destiny of living beings," Cecil said, his voice unusually firm all of a sudden.  He fixed his gaze uponhis brother as sternly as he could, trying to ignore the other's arrogant expression.  Swallowing the sorrow he was feeling, he cracked a little, but also, bitter smile. "But you will be surprised to see, Golbez, that things will not always turn out the way you expect them to be. You will learn that soon enough…" 

His brother as well as his wife looked at him, confused, not understanding what Cecil meant with his words. Then Golbez grinned slightly, shrugged and turned to walk away. 

"Well, then I'll let myself be surprised…"

"Sometimes I wonder what it is that makes us continue going our way on and on… Even now..." Cecil murmured as he turned to watch the dawn over his wife's shoulder, holding her tightly in his arms.

"Maybe it's just us…" Rosa whispered into his ear. "After all we're still not alone... I'll go on, as long as you're by my side."

"Yes… As long as we have each other…" Cecil repeated, though his expression was suddenly filled with pain, as if some terrible thought had come into his mind and was hurting him more than the light of the sun stinging once more in his eyes...

**~*~**

Later that day they flew over the island of Agart. 

"So the islands near Silvera are not far away. Let's just hope that the Dark Paladins are not guarding Mallack's hideout with more airships!" Cid snorted.

"I don't think so," Cecil calmed him. "Mallack is a person who is very sure about his own doings.  Unless he read our thoughts or has noticed the missing Samon by now, he will think that we're out of the way and that he's safe." 

_"Then again, he was often enough one step ahead of us and knew exactly what we would do next…" _the Paladin mused, but kept the thought to himself.

Rydia was looking down at Agart, gazing sadly at the broken entrance to the underworld. 

"Do you think we have any chance against Mallack?" she asked in a low voice. "Though he is a human, there's something scary about him. For some reason, he frightens me more than Zeromus…"

"Well, we do have the crystal shard, right? And a Paladin which can use it to destroy this black stone!" Edge remarked, still trying to sound cheerful, although worry was mirrored in his features, as well.

"Very funny, Edge..." Rosa rolled her eyes, though to her surprise her husband smiled. 

"But he's right... This crystal--" Cecil carefully took it out of the inner pocket of his cloak, "and my powers might be the only means to destroy Mallack's devilish stones. That's the reason why it would be better to separate these two "things"."

"I see," Yang nodded, "So if anything should happen--"

Rosa was looking at him, appalled. "Don't start with this again…" she said, getting supported by understanding looks from Rydia.

"All Cecil wants to say is that it would be better if someone else would carry the crystal, so that Mallack can not get hold of everything," Kain tried to console the two women.

After a second of contemplation, Rosa nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry, but my nerves are a bit worn out. Of course this would be best..." she said, her usual calmness returning.

"So… Who will take the crystal?" Edge wondered.

Cecil smiled, though it was not his usual friendly one, but nearly triumphant.

"I've thought about this for a long time and I've come to the conclusion that we should give it to the person Mallack would assume the least likely to have it." He took a step forward. "Golbez."

"WHAT?" Kain looked at the Paladin with big eyes, frowning like most of the others. Cecil did not seem to mind the skepticism of his friends much, which was a rather disturbing sign, as normally the Paladin was the first to question his own decisions. 

Golbez suddenly started to chuckle quietly. "Very amusing, Cecil… So this is what you meant when you spoke about a "surprise". And indeed _I am _surprised -- surprised that you still have not lost your sense of humour!"

"This is no joke," Cecil approached his brother, offering the sparkling shard to him. The mocking smile left Golbez's face. 

"I will not take it!" he stated, irritated.

"You will!" Cecil looked at him, unimpressed.  He obviously had expected such a reaction. "It's an order from me as the leader of the group!" As he saw Golbez raise an eyebrow, the Paladin's expression softened a bit.  "But even more it is a request from brother to brother…"

"As your brother I would have to decline your wish--you don't know what danger you're bringing all of us with your plan!" Golbez shook his head, but then slowly took the crystal from Cecil. "But I will not go against any orders…" His eyes narrowed and he smiled maliciously: "After all, I'm good at following orders.  Zeromus was always very pleased with me…" 

Cecil's eyes went wide due to this remark, but before he could reply with anything, Kain was by his side: "That's enough!  Don't listen to this madman a minute longer!  Damn wizard--Cecil is showing his trust by giving you the most precious thing we have and in return you mock him?!" he snarled.

"I had no intention of mocking him. He's a good leader, but all this "Paladin", "hope" and "trust" twaddle went to his head," Golbez replied calmly. "This here is no fight in which you can divide clearly between evil and good. You have seen yourself how people you thought to be trustworthy have turned against you.  Mallack plays his own game and I will be the first one of this group he will try to get on his side."

"Fine!" Cecil hissed, "the crystal shard will be a good protection against his powers then..."

The remark left Golbez speechless. Kain grinned, though as he looked at his friend, Cecil's expression was not triumphant, but somehow sad, knowing that his plan was worsening the relationship with his brother instead of strengthening it.

"Very well," Golbez examined the crystal shard in his hand nearly disgusted, as if the feel of the object would cause him pain. Then he faced his brother again. "Lately, you talk much about hope - so let's pray that it will not leave us now as giving the crystal to me was probably the greatest mistake one can commit. Dawn knew this..." He put the crystal away quickly as if he could no longer stand to look at it.

For a moment, doubts surged up in Cecil. _"Dawn was in fact afraid that Golbez was to have the crystal…"_ But he pushed the thoughts aside--in his eyes there was no reason to worry.  He wanted to trust Golbez, and giving the crystal to him was a possibility to show it and to teach Golbez to trust in himself, as well.

"I'm sure that you will take good care of the crystal, Golbez," the Paladin murmured. "And the crystal of you."

"Hey everyone!  We've nearly reached the archipelago!" Cid suddenly shouted from his place behind the steer and everyone ran towards the railing.  Under them, the scattered Silveran islands came into view, the sea around them lined with sandbanks and rocky cliffs.   

"There's the biggest mine!" Cecil pointed downwards. "But how are we supposed to reach it without the hovercraft? To bring the Enterprise down looks impossible to me… There's not enough free space."

"Don't you worry about that, boy!" Cid shouted. "Give me a grain of sand, and I'll land the airship on it!  I've practiced a lot!" He narrowed his eyes in concentration and prepared for a landing. 

"I've never see him practicing..." Kain grabbed the railing tighter: No one dared to speak as Cid brought the airship down slowly, managing only barely to land at the bottom of a hillside, more lopsided than straight.

"I wonder if anyone has noticed us…" Rydia wondered after she had recovered from the landing. "This island is so little…"

"We'll find out soon enough," Cecil murmured

"Someone should stay to guard the airship," Kain proposed, looking at Cid.

"What?" The engineer burst out, "do you think an old man like me can't fight any more?! I'll show you how--"

"Cid, please…" Kain's tone was unusually friendly. "Please think of your daughter.  I just do not want that--" he bowed his head, not daring to speak out what he feared. 

The engineer had understood him anyway and was watching him earnestly. "Alright.  Someone really needs to take care of the airship. But you all take care, will you? You too, Kain… I believe that you need to do some fixing up with Diane when you come back."

Kain looked at him, surprised: "Why... Yes, perhaps I need to…Take care as well, Cid..."

The older man murmured something inaudible, and turned his attention to the airship, not wanting to make too much fuss about the parting from the group.  "Now get a move on!  And when you come back, I'll be here to celebrate your victory - no matter what will await you in the mines, I'm sure that it can't be worse than the fight against Zeromus!"

Cecil tried to smile, but inwardly he couldn't really agree with the words of his old friend.  _"I wish I could share Cid's optimism, but the whole thing is a lot worse then everything I've ever experienced…"_

Rosa seemed to feel uneasy as well and squeezed Cecil's hand nervously.  The Paladin would have liked to ask her to stay with Cid, but knew that she would never have agreedto it. He took a look at his friends: Kain, though he was brooding over something--probably Diane--looked up as he felt the gaze of his friend on him and grinned. Though it was not his usual mischievous one, it still had a lot of confidence in it and with a wink he patted the handle of his weapon with his healthy arm.

_"At least this is like in old times…"_

Rydia was eying the surroundings nervously, but still tried to stay composed. Edge was at her side and made some jokes, trying to break the tension and one or two remarks even made the caller smile.

Yang was as calm as ever, maybe just more serious than usual--he was a source of composure and experience for the group that Cecil was glad of.  

Finally Rosa, next to him.  His wife looked up and, though with obvious difficulties, managed a smile: "Don't you worry about me... Things will be fine as long as we all hold together..."  Her husband smiled back.  In fact in this moment the group seemed closer than ever before, as the understanding, harmony, and trust between the friends had never been stronger.

_"This unity could be our strength… I hope that it will not leave us..."_ Cecil's look fell on Golbez who was standing some feet away, back turned to the group and his thoughts once again closed to his brother.

_" I__ know that I can trust you, Golbez…"_

Now, there was only one thing left to do:

"Lets go!" the Paladin exclaimed. "The mine entrance should be near here somewhere…"

_Author's notes: After this "sad fun" with Cecil and Gobs, the chase can begin…  And thanks to every one who has reviewed (yes, I am repeating myself, but I do it gladly :)_


	23. Chapter 22: The illusion of love

**22.**

_The illusion of love_

"There it is!" Rydia was peering around the edge of a big stone. Nestled between two steep mountain walls lay the stony, angular entrance of one of the Silveran mines.

"Strange, there are no guards..." Kain frowned.

"Maybe their headquarter is deeper in the mines and they don't want to attract too much attention by placing guards in front," Yang suggested. "Or Mallack feels completely safe on this isolated island…"

Carefully, the friends emerged from their hiding place and approached the entrance. As they entered the black maw, cold silence greeted them -only some mining tools which were lying on the ground gave proof that once, people had been working in here. 

"Maybe we were wrong after all and Mallack is hiding somewhere else..." Edge's voice sounded as if he could not decide whether to feel relieved or frustrated in view of this possibility.

"No… Let's get a bit deeper into the mines," Rosa insisted and moved ahead.

Kain and Cecil exchanged glances - it seemed that Rosa was more than determined to find her father.

The mines were illuminated well enough by torches on the walls, and the group was able to find their way without magic. They followed the mine tunnels for some time, spotting nothing unusual until they reached a great stone arch leading to a darker area of the cave.

"I haven't seen this arch the last time we were here," Rosa wondered, remembering the time they had traded with some miners in order to get the right material to strengthen Cecil's sword. 

Edge studied the pillars holding the arch: "Looks like they were built… Why the heck would someone construct this for a mine?  It's not a living room!"  

"Maybe this someone lays great stress on an imposing surrounding," Golbez suggested sarcastically. "Look, there's something scratched on the arch: _"Here begins the free realm of the true Paladin. May the steps through this gate free your thoughts and may you discover yourself." _

"For Mallack the fight against us is a fight for freedom..." Cecil said darkly. "He doesn't realize that his ideas are even more confining than the ones of the Lunarians he so hates."

Carefully, the group stepped through the arch, suddenly feeling stones under their feet.

"I'll make some light…" Rosa whispered and cast the spell - with a loud sizzle, the area was bathed in a pale glow. Although everyone had to shield their eyes as usual when a light spell was cast in a narrow space, for some reason the magic did not feel as strong as it used to.  

"This might be because we're near to the black stone..." Cecil whispered, then fell silent as the light spell lessened even more, allowing the group to see their surrounding. The room they were standing in looked more like a regular room in a castle than a cave in a mine - although it was completely veneered in black. The floor was made out of a material which looked like black marble and the walls were covered with a strange crystalline dark structure. The blackness of the room was frightening, overwhelming, and seemed to suck in even the light spell which seemed to becomedimmerwith every second.****

"By Bahamut!  I've never seen such a black!  It seems to pull one in…" Rosa gasped next to Cecil.

The Paladin was surveying his surroundings with widened eyes: _"It looks like a Lunarian shrine - or better, like the evil counterpart of one. There's something disturbing...no, destructive about this room..."_

Rosa was right - one could not escape the darkness of this room: No matter where one looked, the room was black, like it wasbeing covered by a sticky, oily film; the blackness tearing at one's soul, drawing one's being into a horrible embrace...

Cecil approached one of the walls, seeing his image being reflected faintly in the crystalline structure. Suddenly the image blurred and a person dressed in black armour seemed to reach for him through the wall, causing the Paladin to take a step back.

_"Just as it had been on __Mt.__Ordeals__!__  But this time - the wall is so black… Black as my armour… Why did it reach for me? Does it…does the darkness still feel attached to me?"_

Horrified and unable to move, Cecil watched how the apparition in the mirror was reaching out once more for him, its black clad hand diving through the black material as if it were water. However, before it had reached him, the dark knight shattered into thousands of little black shards. The Paladin felt a sharp sting in his heart, as if one of the broken fragments had hit him; nausea surged up in him and, feeling weak on his legs all of a sudden, he had to touch a side wall for support. 

"Cecil! Are you alright? You look pale…" Rosa sounded concerned - obviously she had not seen the apparition in the wall. 

Her husband shook his head, trying to fight an arising sickness. "I'm alright…" However, the image of the black clad hand reaching through the mirror still lingered in his mind…

"It's awful here," Rydia whispered. "This darkness… As I was little, I used to think that dying was like this. Just dropping into a space where everything is black and cold... It made me afraid…" She suddenly started to sob slightly. "My mother used to comfort me by telling me that I wouldn't be alone there...that…" She was unable to speak any further.

"Rydia..." Edge approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. It seemed as if he wanted to tell her something nice, but suddenly anger flared up in his eyes.  "I know how you feel - this room makes me sick, as well.  It reminds me so much of Rubicant's laboratory. My parents... Begging for death from the hands of their own son!  Why...why are there always beings like these damn fiends?!  Manipulating others, changing them, only to destroy them without mercy in the end. And we... _I_...could do nothing!  It's a lie if people say that the good side will prevail in the end!"  Hot desperation seemed to overcome him and letting go of Rydia's shoulder, he balled his hands to fists, his whole body shuddering withsuppressed rage. 

"Only a fiend like Mallack would build such a devilish room!" Kain's voice was full of disgust. "He will pay for everything…for what he did to our friends - for what he did to _me!_"

_"Is Kain giving Mallack the fault for his separation from Diane?"_ Cecil wondered.  There was something disturbing about the sudden tone and behaviour of his friends, but he felt too dizzy to think about it clearly.  _"Why won't the image of the reflection leave my head? Will this past really never leave me as well? Maybe...maybe the darkness is still in me..."_

Bitter memories of his escape from the Mysidian villagers surged up in him; their shouts and accusations ringing once more into his ears. _"Who am I to judge what is evil and what is good, who am I to fight for justice if I can not even win the fight against my dark past…" _

He tried to keep his wits together, telling himself that the apparition had just been illusion. "We all should calm down a bit… We'll need a clear head if we want to confront Mallack and win," he brought forth. 

"Maybe there is no way to defeat Mallack after all..." Yang said, staring at the wall.

"Of course there is one!" Kain snapped at him, angrily. 

"I'm only saying that we have to reckon with a possible defeat," The King of Fabul replied, unmoved by Kain's tone.

"He's right..." Rydia sobbed. "And even if we could defeat Mallack -- what about the townspeople?"

"Yes… We might never be able to bring them back to their senses. They hate us too much, maybe even hated us before… Especially me…" Cecil added hoarsely - repugnance filled his mind as he heard himself utter these faint-hearted words, but a strong sense of desperation had once more filled his whole being and he could find no strength to fight against it.

"That's enough!" Rosa's angry voice echoed through the room. "It may surprise you that _I'm_ the one saying this, but worrying will bring us nowhere!  We've come this far and now we suddenly have lost all our hope?" She looked at Cecil. "Even you?  Is this the way we want to repay Dawn for what she did?  By quivering in fear before we even have met Mallack?"

Everyone stared at her, surprised.

"She's right..." Yang finally said after a while, although his voice still sounded unnaturally weak. "It would be foolish to admit defeat without a fight - we all are not behaving like ourselves right now. But suddenly everything seemed so pointless to me and I remembered all the times I failed... How…how I hadn't been able to protect my men from the monster attack on Mt. Hobbs and the Fabulian Kingdom from Zemus' forces…" It was seldom that Yang spoke about this, and the Karate master averted his gaze as if he feared that too many emotions were mirrored in his normally so calm eyes.

"Me and Rydia had to think of our parents…" Edge said darkly, but looked up surprised as the caller reached for his hand as if needing reassurance that she wasn't alone.  He carefully drew her in an embrace, "It's okay, Rydia. We're all here with you…" he told her softly, the former desperation and rage in his eyes slowly wearing away. The caller nodded sadly, still lost in sorrow.

"And I had to think of… Well it would be too much to enumerate it right now…" Kain murmured and although he tried to grin, it was clear that he felt ashamed.

"I saw myself as a Dark Knight. For a moment, I even thought that the darkness was still in me…"  Cecil murmured, absent-mindedly.

_"But that's not true. Although my past will never leave me, I once fought against the Dark Knight that was me and won. Thus, I can and will fight against him again."_

The Paladin swallowed hard and closed his eyes for moment, with all his strength trying to banish this image once more - this time he succeeded and his mind already felt a bit clearer.

"We all seem to be gettingreminded of our greatest fears and worries…and our pasts," he said, looking at the others.

"Maybe this is the doing of Mallack, or these black stones," Kain wondered and anger seemed to overcome him again.

"This might be a trick of him to lead us into carelessness," Yang said, "And we nearly fell for it... Lets all try to concentrate on the mission at hand from now on - the shadows of our pasts will stay forever, but Mallack we need to fight _now_!"

"Yes, he will not toy with us any longer!" Kain agreed. "And I…I'm sorry about my outburst just then, Yang..."

"No need to apologize." The Karate Master bowed slightly.

"Good.  Is everyone feeling alright so that we can go on?  Rydia?"  Cecil approached the caller and laid an arm around her slim shoulders, as he would always do when the girl was sad.

Rydia looked up to him, then to Edge, still some tears in her eyes. "Yes..." She tried to smile bravely. "Together there is nothing which can stand against us…"

"Even if you were only alone with me you could be sure of that!" Edge grinned.

"If I was alone with you, I'd probably start to panic..." the caller teased - it seemed as if the constant quibbling with Edge was only one method of chasing away her fears. 

Cecil sighed relieved.  Obviously his friends had found their wayback to their old spirit or at least pretended that it was so. _"And I can fight as well. And if it is to prove that the darkness has left me…"_

Then he suddenly remembered that Golbez had not said anything for a long time - the wizard was standing very still, his whole appearance seeming to blend in with the dark surroundings, had it not been for his face, which was more pale than usual. 

_"I wonder of what he thought out of all of us here.  His past is surely the most frightening…"_

"Golbez," the Paladin addressed him softly, "is everything alright?"

The long-haired wizard blinked, as if awakening from a dream. "Oh…Yes. I was just thinking of--of long forgotten times…" As he beheld Cecil's worried look, he raised his eyebrow, amused. "Are you already regretting that you gave me the crystal, Cecil?"

The Paladin shook his head - his decision stood, no matter how much Golbez mocked him.

"No… It will be a good protection for you.  Now let's go and find Mallack..." 

He quickly turned around as he did not want to give Golbez the opportunity to reply and heinstead approached Rosa, who was already about to leave the room.

Although Cecil was glad and proud that his wife had been the one to prevent a quarrel between the friends, he also was slightly surprised that she of all people had been the only one to keep a clear head.

"Thanks for intervening, Rosa.  In this place here, our darkest fears seem to become real, so it's good to have at least one fearless person in our midst…" He told her, giving her a fleeing kiss on the cheek during walking. 

The young queen blushed slightly. "Oh… It wasn't that I didn't have unpleasant memories… There were memories of how my father left and did not come back, of how you and Kain were sent to Mysidia. Of the time when I was confined in the tower of Zot, not knowing if I would ever see you again, death before my eyes. And memories...of Dawn… But..."

"But?" Cecil asked gently.

She smiled. "Then I thought that--" She blanched, "Oh no!"

Cecil knew at once what was frightening his wife, as he was feeling it, too - or better feeling _him_.  "Be on guard…" He drew his sword.  Rosa watched his action with worry, but laid her own hand on the weapon at her side: the silver rapier Dawn had given her.

"So you finally found us!" A dark voice echoed suddenly through the hall - it was clearly Morrison's bass.

"Morrison!  Where are you?  Show yourself!"  Kain demanded.

"I'm right here behind you!" the voice chuckled. As the friends turned around they caught sight of the tall figure of the Dark Knight - the eyes of the grey haired man were lifeless and cold as always. 

"Why have we not noticed him sooner?" Rydia uttered, shocked.

"How impressive that you came this far…" Morrison studied the group before him. "Not many are able to withstand the magical powers of Mallack - especially not people with such interesting pasts as some of you posses…"

The remark made Kain clench his fists.

"Father!  Please snap out of it!"  Ignoring her husband's try to hold her back, Rosa took a step towards the Knight. "You can withstand Mallack's powers as well!"

Morrison grinned maliciously. "Who says that I want that, my daughter?"

Rosa gasped, her face a mask of surprise. "Daughter?  So you…you remember?"

The Knight took a step towards her, not making preparations to draw his weapon, though.  "Mallack helped me to remember," He explained and his expression changed to something nearly gentle, as far as his dead eyes would allow such an impression.  "My dear Rosa.  I used to call you 'Little Princess'..." He took another step towards her - Cecil watched the scene with concern, but Rosa shook her head slightly, motioning him to stay back. 

"Remember the one birthday where I gave you your first bow?  The white one?" Morrison asked.

Rosa nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes. You taught me to use it… Though I would always miss the target at first…" 

"Yes," Morrison laughed quietly, "but soon, you became very skilled. You were the pride of me and your mother.  Ah -- your mother, Margaret: such a brave and temperamental woman and beautiful as I met her…" Morrison had nearly reached Rosa by now. "What a happy little family we were back then."

"Yes, we were.  And we can become happy again!"  Rosa pleaded.  "Let us--let _me _help you!  Together we can fight Mallack!"

"I see that my 'Little Princess' has become a great, brave Queen," Morrison smiled.  "A Queen--" suddenly his expression hardened and his voice sounded full of disgust--"A Queen who's living the same hypocritical and pitiful life I once led!"

"Father!"  Rosa took a step back, eyes full of horror. "What are you saying?"

Morrison shook his head. "You still do not understand, do you?  I was a Knight of the King - I was living tofollow his orders, risking my life for goals which were _his_. And what for?  As our ship sank I got washed up on some little island, more dead than alive.  Some people, fishermen, took my lifeless body into their village and cared for me.  They probably thought that I was some noble lord or someone like that who would reward them greatly when he awoke… I was lucky that they thought this way: I don't know how long I lay in coma, but hadn't the villagers hoped to get a reward, they'd surely thrown me into the sea again…" His voice became even more bitter as he continued:.

"It was Mallack who found me and helped me to recover, giving his own life-forceto me -- if he hadn't, I would still be rottingthere!  I bet the King did not even search for me, but just declared me dead!  Isn't it that way?  A Knight is there to follow his King and to die for him. Even if this means that the Knight has to leave his family behind, unprotected and of course under the mercy of his liege…"

"But the King did search for you!"  Rosa replied.  "All these things you say… I really don't understand… If all this was so horrible for you, why did you become Knight in the first place?  You choose to serve Baron out of your own free will!"

"You're so naïve!" Mallack laughed coldly. "Although once, I used to think so too… But Mallack showed me the truth: in this world, under the current circumstances, there exists no thing as a free will. We are all puppets, and the ones who shape our lives are not we, but others..." He took another step towards Rosa, nearly threatening.

"But what about us?  What about your family? We had nothing to do with the orders of a King, right?" Rosa started to get uneasy, also because the man before her had something unreal to him.

Morrison stopped in his approach. "Funny you should mention this… I said the same thing to Mallack once, although I did not know then that I had a family, you see.  And now, as I remember again, it does not matter as well.  Because do you know what he taught me in his wisdom?  A concept of a thing like family is just a hindrance to ones own development.  Caring for a wife, for a child means giving up one's own freedom. Instead of following higher goals, you spend your life in a seemingly perfect little world until it breaks one day… And do you know why it breaks?  Because we're not made to spend our lives with another, but are all alone deep in our being.  'Love' is an illusion, made by humans to mislead humans about this loneliness, as otherwise they could not stand living their miserable lives anymore!"

Rosa shook her head, tears in her eyes.  "So you say that you didn't really love us?  I don't believe you... Besides, you said that we were all puppets and need to break free, but why are you following Mallack's orders then?  He's using you for his own goals!  All he wants is to have control over people and he already has succeeded in having control over you!  Is this the way you want to shape your own life?  Father, don't you see that Mallack's words are only lies to deceive you?  Humans can live together and if a thing such as love and family was only an illusion, then I wouldn't be standing here trying to help you!"

Morrison uttered a disdainful snort. "And how will you help me?  Pitiful, adapted creature that you are?  With following Mallack's orders, I follow my own wishes.  I finally have the chance to lead my life the way I want to.  And no one will stand in my way!"  He seemed to want to reach out for Rosa, but Cecil was faster and stepped in his way.

"This is enough!"  The Paladin stated angrily, grabbing for the others arm - but his hand went right through the man.

"He's not real, but a magical appearance…" Rydia whispered. 

"Show yourself, coward!"  Kain shouted.

The hologram of Morrison chuckled. "You all are so easy to fool... Do you really think that you could beat me even if I'd be standing here in person?  Maybe with this little shard of crystal you possess?"

"In fact we _do believe this," Edge remarked dryly._

"You'll have to kill me then to prove this…" With satisfaction, Morrison saw how Rosa paled even more.  "Still worried, daughter?  You don't need to worry - you're all too weak to kill me. There's only one amongst you who might have a slight chance to overcome Mallack or me, but he will not do this 'cause he thinks like us…" Suddenly, the apparition disappeared.

"Where has he gone to?" Yang looked around.

"There!"  Cecil pointed towards another wall where the figure of Morrison was reflected in the black tiles - somehow the Knight looked more "real" than before. With a smile the figure raised his arm: the wall next to him began to blur slightly and he stepped through it.

"We cannot let him get away!" Golbez murmured, setting after Morrison immediately.

"Golbez, wait for us!" Cecil shouted, but his brother had already stepped through the wall which sucked him in like a dark maelstrom.

"Golbez!" Kain rushed towards the wall - he was too late, as well and hit his head on the cold black material. "Damn!  Morrison has tricked us!  And your stupid brother fell for it!" 

"And now… Mallack has Golbez and the crystal shard..." Cecil went pale.

Before the Paladin could work himself into this thought, Yang had laid a hand on his friend's shoulder: "Nothing is lost yet!" he told the other. "I'm sure that your brother is well able to defend the crystal _and_ himself.  Let's hurry up to find him!"

The group hastened their steps, only Rosa did not move at once.

"Rosa. Please..." Cecil pulled gently at her hand.  His wife looked at him, her stare strangely blank and followed him, wordlessly.


	24. Chapter 23: Heart of stone

**23.**

_A heart of stone_

"I really didn't think that you would fall for this trick…" Morrison's laughter echoed through the room.

Golbez raised an eyebrow, while trying to adapt to the darkness of the room he was standing in.

"Oh… How could I forget!? _You need to get used to the darkness again_!" Another male voice, unmistakably Mallack's one, chuckled. "Let's make some light!"

A dim light suddenly filled the cave, revealing a room not unlike the one they had been in before; laid out totally with black tiles. On a chair at the end of the room Mallack was sitting with crossed legs, his sharp eyes watching the new visitor with amusement.  Next to the elegantly clothed man, Morrison was standing. Golbez had the strong feeling that this time, the Knight was not a magical apparition, but one of flesh and blood.

"So we finally can have a cozy talk…" Mallack smiled and, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair, pressed his fingertips together under his chin.  "Somehow I knew that you would follow Morrison… Was it because his words made you angry?  Or because you were hoping to destroy the Dark Paladins on your own?  This would be a good way to redeem yourself in front of your little brother, am I right?"

"For what I did there's no compensation!" Golbez replied bitterly. "I was just taking the first chance to get my hands on you in order to kill you. You've caused enough mischief and your plans have cost way too many lives... Like--" he was interrupted by the other.

"Don't you think that it is a bit reckless to speak to me in such a fashion, standing here all alone?  You could die in this very room… But you don't care, do you?"  Mallack studied the long haired wizard before him.

Golbez shrugged and approached the other one; calmly, his expression unmoving.  "If my life is the price for killing you, so be it.  Better my death than one of the others." 

"How self-sacrificial!  I didn't know you were such a martyr inside.  You're starting to resemble the little Paladin," Mallack chuckled, watching the other man without fear.

Golbez's eyes narrowed. "This has nothing to do with a sacrifice... It's just a reasonable thing to do."

"Reasonable?  I don't want to sound insulting, but your argument lacks in logic, my dear Master Golbez. What would be reasonable about killing the one person who can relieve you from your pain?"  Mallack stood up slowly. 

"Now _you _sound very self-sacrificial. So you brought me to the Blue Planet to relieve me from my pain, is it that?  How generous. What pain are you talking about?" Golbez chuckled disparagingly, though he was watching every move of the man before him attentively.

"Don't play games with me, Master Golbez. You might be able to hide your thoughts from others, but you cannot hide them from me…" Mallack's voice was low and knowingly, "The defeat of Zeromus has left you broken, without any purpose.  Everything you are was created by Zemus and now, as he is gone, you don't know how to cope with your dark soul… You are like a caged animal that, as it finally gets let free, does no longer know how to survive in nature.  And your powers do not only want to survive, but they want to _dominate_, to _destroy_ nature. You're trying to fight against that, but with every try to escape the blackness of your heart, you plunge deeper into the abyss.  As you know that's there's no hope for you reaching the "Light" as you might call it…"

Despite his efforts to keep up a mocking expression, Golbez had become strangely pale. "You know nothing of me!" He snapped.

"Oh, but I do… I know of your thoughts in the Black Crystal room: how much it hurts inside of you.  How you tried to redeem yourself, to find a way to lessen the soaring pain of guilt you feel inside.  And how you failed - every time! So you build a wall around yourself and try to hurt and mock others as much as you can, so that many despise you, punish you and thus, take a bit of the guilt from your shoulders… Isn't it that way, Golbez?"

"My past doings are a burden which I have to carry alone.  I'm trying to keep people away from me because I _don't _want to hurt them..." Golbez replied coldly.

"But you do hurt them… You can't help it - to hurt others is in you!  You cannot deny your black self.  It's a part of you.  It is your core, your heart!"

"A reason more to keep my heart closed, then!  If you're trying to get me on your side, be assured that it won't work!  And now I'm tired of your senseless rambling!  _Nuke_!"  Golbez stretched out his arm, a boiling hot stream emerging from his fingers, aimed directly at Mallack. The Dark Paladin watched the magic energy coming towards him without fear - before the spell could reach him, it bounced against an invisible shield around him.  For the first time, Morrison showed a reaction and started to laugh quietly. 

"What the hell..." For once, Golbez could not hide his astonishment.

Mallack smiled.  "Surprised?  Black Magic, though it is strong here in my realm, will not harm me… I'm being protected by the power of the black crystal..." He pointed to the dark breastplate, which was fastened around his upper body and blended in with his other clothing perfectly.  Slowly, he approached Golbez.  "Wouldn't you want such a power as well?  It would not only protect you from everything, but also take the guilt away."  Mallack took out a small pendant in which a little black stone was set in.  "Isn't it beautiful?"

"If you try to seduce me with this silly little trinket like you did with the citizens of the Blue Planet, you will not go far.  I have something which is stronger than this…" Golbez's eyes narrowed as he took out the crystal shard without removing the covers around it.

Mallack came to a halt.  "Oh… The crystal shard, I suppose.  You're still in the possession of it? But-- " For a moment, there was a hint of worry in the eyes of the Dark Paladin, but it was gone in an instant.  "That question can wait for later.  Right now, I'm more interested in what you want to do with the crystal.  Maybe you wish to use it?  You hesitate?"

"You know very well that I cannot use it!  But it will protect me," Golbez snarled - it was not clear if he really believed in his words, or was just trying to bluff.

"Protect you?  From what?"  Mallack feigned ignorance, then started to grin: "Oh - now I understand!  You mean protection from this little pendant here?"  He waved the necklace in his hand, then threw it into a corner, carelessly. "We don't need it. Everything we need is--" he pointed at Golbez's chest, "_right there_."__

The wizard took a step back, horror creeping into his expression. "What…what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about power, greater than the black crystal! You see, we used to tell our followers that the black stones are a product of ancient times and hail from the Blue Planet, but in reality, it is more likely that a Lunarian created them, created them by powers only the Lunarian elders possess and Zeromus was one of them.  You frown?  You probably think that I should detest the stone then, as I told my followers that I hate the Lunarians, but you possibly can guess that I don't really care about the origin of the stone. You can't be picky when it comes to power. And I need to draw my powers from the stone.  However, you," real admiration and fascination lit up in Mallack's eyes, "you posses the strength in yourself - you got infused with the dark forces through the power Zeromus gave you and because you're a Lunarian you can acquire magic in a different form than I can... What I would give to be in your shoes.  Power to shape every thought, every creature in the world after your wishes!  The power to do everything you want!"

"You're lying! My power has nothing to do with your cursed stones..." Golbez thundered, his dark eyes sparkling furiously.

"Does it?"  Mallack's tone hardened, "look into yourself, Golbez!  Feel your heart… Feel your soul!  This heavy, black lump - this black stone which is the core of your being!"

Golbez eyes grew wide, an inner struggle in him visible: "No… That is not true!"

"Why do you think the moon changed its orbit?  We told you that _we_ had brought you to the Blue Planet, but that is only half of the truth.  I cast the transport spell, but what really drew you here was the black stone.  Since I excavated it, it has been calling for you - calling for your core, as you're both part of a greater force.  Don't you understand?  The heritage of incredible might was given to me and you to use to our liking!  Even more so, the might is not merely in you, but you _are_ the might!  This is why you can't fight against your inner being, this is the reason why your powers will stay forever - they can't be destroyed by normal means.  Like the black crystal…"

Golbez backed away: "If the black stone and my core are really that alike, one _can_ put a stop to my powers."  He tore the layer of cloth from the crystal in his hand, revealing the faintly shining shard.

"You're right," Mallack smiled cruelly, "but the power of the Crystal would destroy you in the process, as well... Even now it is blocking your real powers.  Can't you feel it?  Can't you feel the crystal shard resonating to your core, trying to destroy it?"

"No…" Golbez slowly closed his hands around the crystal in his hand, "It is only a crystal shard... It can destroy nothing without proper use - I have seen it.  And I cannot use it..."

"It does not matter.  The crystal acts on its own…" Mallack pointed towards the object.  Suddenly, Golbez's face was twisted with agony and the man fell down to his knees with a cry of pain.

"What...what was that...this light?!" he panted. "What damn spell did you use?"

"That was not a spell, my dear Master Golbez…" Mallack smiled sweetly.  "It is the crystal draining away your life-force.  Throw it away so that the pain may stop!"

Golbez shook his head, grabbing the crystal even tighter and the pain soaring through his bones grew stronger and seemed to tear him apart. "That...can't be!  I've…touched it…before!  You're trying to trick me…. You know that it's...it's the only way to defeat you!" he brought forth between clenched teeth.

"The only thing which tricked you is the crystal!  Your former contacts with it were not long enough for it to show its real powers.  It has been feeding on you the whole time now while you were carrying it.  It will defeat you!  Throw away the crystal, renounce yourself from the false moral restraints others used to tie you up!  You may have suffered under Zeromus, but why not use his powers now to free yourself - to live life the way you want to?"  

Mallack approached Golbez, looking down on him, sympathetically.  "Look what the crystal is doing to you… Bringing you down on your knees, enslaving you.  It will not help you - it will betray you...like your father did…"

Golbez's gaze shot up, the pain in his face now mixed with incredible rage.

"I've told you that I've read your thoughts, Golbez… I know that your father abandoned you - he probably suspected that the power of the crystal would never be with you.  You may think that the crystal is a symbol of good, but it isn't - it follows the will of its creator just like the black stone.  But for that it needs people which are easy to manipulate, which are weak.  But you're like me, Golbez... We're strong and as such to no use of the Lunarians.  That's why the power of the crystal is not with us.  We are enemies to the other Lunarians.  That's also why your father did nothing to protect you from Zeromus, from having you fight against your own brother.  He possibly hoped, like the other Lunarian Elders, that you would just drop into your doom.  And now, the crystal will finish what its creators failed to do and destroy you!"

"I...do not know...why my father abandoned me… But… I do know that I'd rather die…than fall into the arms of darkness again!" Golbez gasped.

"Then so be it," Mallack nodded.  "But your decision does not only seal your fate, but the one of your friends as well.  The crystal has not much power left in it and your powers are strong... If it destroys you, it will break and your friends will no longer be able to destroy the black stone - unless they find another crystal, which is very unlikely, as I will not admit that they leave these mines alive.  And you know that they are no match for our powers."  He nodded towards Morrison, who was watching the whole scene, his expression unmoving.  Mallack laughed: "With you dead, your brother will plunge into desperation even more.  In the Crystal room I saw that he still suffers under his dark past… I will show him what true darkness and true suffering means!"

"You fiend!  I will not let this happen!" Golbez bit his lip, trying to get up, but he slumped back to the floor at once.

"You want to fight?  Then use your powers!  Throw this crystal away and give in to your dark heritage!  Smash me with all your hate!  You can do it!"  Mallack shouted, an eerie look in his wide open eyes. 

"I'll kill you!"  With a sudden motion, Golbez threw the crystal on the floor - the pain inside of him subsided at once, though he felt that there was still some force nagging on him from the inside, some kind of great power.  He closed his eyes and focused on it, trying to gather as much strength as he could manage. 

"I'll kill you!" he hissed again as he felt a giant amount of power building up in him.  It felt like something was giving him strength, was feeding his magic, and it was too late for him to stop now - in fact he _didn't want_ to stop it anymore. 

As a black, fearful wave of immeasurable strength filled every vein in Golbez's body, he heard Mallack whispering in awe:

"Yes... Now you've finally come to us.  The power has come to the master..."

A soaring pain shot through Golbez's whole being -- the dark magic started to tear at his innards, at his thoughts in a much more terrible way than the crystal before.  The pain was unbearable, every second felt like an eternity - then, suddenly, there was only merciful blackness…


	25. Chapter 24: Last promise

**24**

_Last promise_

"Holy chocobo!  Why did your brother have to run off like that?"  Kain cursed. "How shall we ever find him in this maze?  All corridors of this dark hell look alike to me!"  The group had been following the black crystalline tunnels of Mallack's headquarter for quite some time now, trying to find the place Morrison and Golbez had disappeared to.

"Let's hope that the crystal will protect him…" Cecil said quietly.

"What... What will we do if my father is still with him?" Rosa whispered next to him. 

Her husband bowed his head. "I... I--"

"Better decide quickly about that!"  Kain suddenly drew his spear from his back - they had just rounded a corner when suddenly Mallack and Morrison appeared in the room right before them. 

"What did you do to Golbez?  Where is he?"  Cecil shouted, drawing his sword as well.

Mallack smiled, his eyes sparkling mysteriously.  "You have found us sooner than expected.  But it's a bit too early for a fight.  Come to the room where the black stone is kept if you want answers… Now I'll just take the--" He looked around the room. "Where is it?  Ah well - it doesn't matter, anyway… I guess you will bring it with you if you find it.  _Warp_!" He and his companion were gone in an instant.

"No… They got away, again!" Cecil rushed towards the room, nearly tripping over a little object which was lying on the floor of the corridor.  He picked it up, surprised: "The crystal shard..." Suddenly, he got aware of a motionless figure lying on the ground.

"Golbez!" the paladin approached his brother, getting on one knee next to the lifeless figure.

"Golbez… Are you alright?" he shook his shoulder.

"Be careful.  Something does not feel right," Kain murmured - he and the others had entered the room rather hesitantly. 

Golbez began to move. "Ugh... What happened?" The dark haired wizard slowly rose, holding a hand to his hurting forehead.

"Golbez!  Are you alright?  Mallack and Morrison were with you…" Cecil's voice was a tad doubtful and he watched his brother attentively.

"He… Mallack tried to manipulate me… He wants my power to help his group.  I tried to fight… But I couldn't hurt him with my magic... Too strong…" His expression twisted in pain, but he still managed to get to his feet, again. "In the end, everything went black…"

"How are you feeling now?" Yang asked, a certain mistrust in his voice.

"A bit dizzy.  I hope I did nothing during my blackout I might regret later…" Golbez frowned.  "Where's the crystal shard?"

"It's here…" Cecil informed him. "I found it lying on the floor... You must have lost it during your fight with Mallack.  Luckily he didn't notice that it was lyingall the way in the corridor..." He smiled, a hint of relief in his eyes: "Obviously the crystal has protected you during the fight.  See, it was a good thing after all that I gave it to you."

"Maybe…" Golbez grunted, rather embarrassed.  He stretched out his hand. "So shall I take it again?"

The paladin shook his head. "No, this isn't necessary."

Golbez raised an eyebrow. "Do you fear that I would bring it to Mallack?"

Cecil looked at him, surprised. "No… But we're already pretty much near his lair, I think... If we all stay together there shouldn't be any reason to--"

"You don't trust me, do you?" Golbez suddenly snapped and grabbed for Cecil's arm.

"Golbez…" The paladin took a step back, wringing himself out of Golbez's iron grasp.  "What are you talking about?" Horror crept upon his face, as he saw Golbez's face flush with rage.  "What did Mallack do to you?"

"He showed me my true self… And now give me the crystal!" Golbez hissed - with a hostile motion, he went after Cecil, trying to get hold of the shard. 

His brother paled: "Golbez!  Snap out of it!"  

"Don't talk!  Get away from him, Cecil!"  Edge shouted.

"No one can get away from me!" Golbez thundered, a mad glimpse in his eyes.  "I'll free you from your restricted existences!"  He raised his hands.

"Oh no!"  Rydia screamed.  "If he casts a black magic spell here, its results will be disastrous due to the black stone!"

"Stop it, Golbez!"  Cecil shouted, running towards Golbez and trying to knock him down; before he could reach the wizard, the black haired man had stopped in his incantations, grabbed Cecil at the shoulder and threw him to the far wall without effort.

"Fool!" He laughed and started to murmur once again some magical formulas.

"There's nothing we can do right now!  Get a move on, Cecil!"  Yang shouted.  

The Paladin nodded.  Still holding tightly onto the crystal he jumped to his feet and followed the others to the exit of the room.  However, they were not fast enough: As they had nearly reached the corridor, Golbez's voice echoed behind them.

"METEO!"

A soaring fire filled the room at once, balls of fiery red and black magic raining onto the group.

"Quickly!  Out of here!"  Rosa shouted, barely able to avoid on of the magical missiles.

"By Bahamut… I've never seen the spell in such intensity…" Rydia's eyes were wide with astonishment and she could not bring herself to move.

"Rydia!  Be careful!"  With a swift motion, Edge had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her with him - it was no moment too soon, as the course of another magical stone was heading directly at them and crashed down next to them.

"Damn that--Ouch!" Edge cried out in pain.  The burning object had hit his leg.

"Edge!" Rydia clung to the Ninja next to her.  Yang was at their side at once and together, they dragged the young blue-haired man out of the room. 

"Escape is futile!"  Golbez laughed behind them.  Before Cecil followed the others into the maze of dark tunnels, he turned around once again, only to behold a sight which seemed to have arisen from his worst nightmares:

Golbez was standing in the middle of soaring fires, though the flames were nothing against the fire of hate that burned in his brother's eyes…

~*~

"Is he following us?"  Rydia asked, fear in her voice.

"I don't think so.  I bet that Golbez is so sure of his powers that going after us would be an unnecessary effort in his eyes…" panted Kain, helping Edge along the way together with Cecil.

"How are you feeling, Edge?" Rosa enquired with worry.

"Ah... It's only a scratch... Though one that hurts pretty much for that…" the ninja brought forth in a pained voice, but tried to smile, as he saw Rydia's eyes filling with tears.  "Don't worry, even though Eblan would be better off without me, like you always say, Rydia, I've no intention of kicking the bucket so soon!"

The caller replied with a half laugh, half sob.

"Still we need to rest somewhere…" Rosa insisted.  "The wound needs to get treated!"

"How about right here?  We're pretty deep in the maze right now, so we shouldn't be too easy to find," Yang proposed.

"Alright…" Cecil and Kain carefully placed Edge on the floor and then made room for Rosa, who started to cast healing spells on Edge's leg at once. The calf and parts of his left thigh were burnt pretty badly and the fabric of his blue-grey trousers had been reduced to a smouldering, black material with holes in it. 

"Look at that!"  Edge joked with clenched teeth, "That style might become the new trend in Eblan next summer!" 

Kain wasn't in the mood for jokes: "Hopefully we will still be able to see it, then…" he grumbled.

"Kain," Rosa sighed, "could you please leave your dark prophecies to yourself?  We have enough problems already… Golbez's magic has eaten itself through the flesh of Edge's leg.  I wish that the black stone would strengthen my healing magic as much as it strengthens black magic, but it doesn't.  I need your help, Cecil."

The paladin nodded and started to cast some weaker cure spells, as well.

"I didn't want to worsen the mood… But one injured person would have been sufficient." Kain slumped to the floor, holding his side, which had started to hurt due torunning.  It frustrated the dragoon immensely that he couldn't fight at his full power.  "So now it's not only Mallack and Morrison we'll have to face, but Golbez as well…" he frowned.

"I cannot believe it… How could Mallack manipulate him?" Cecil bowed his head. "Imagine what would have happened if I had given the crystal shard to him…" 

"But you _did_ give it to him before…" Kain murmured, a slight reproach lying in his words. 

"Yes, I know that this was a mistake and that I should have listened to you," his friend admitted, "But I really trusted him and I wanted to show this…"

"You don't have to explain yourself, Cecil," Rydia said quietly, "we only came that far because we trusted each other, so why should you have made an exception with Golbez?"

The Paladin nodded towards the caller, thankful for her words, even more so as he knew that in her life, it often hadn't been easy for her to trust.  Still, he was not sure if trust was enough to solve the situation they were in.

"It might be true that we came that far 'cause we trusted each other, but what about Dawn and Jonas?"  He said softly.  "All the trust we set in them and they set in us couldn't save them… And Golbez--"   

"Cecil!  What's the matter with you?  We shouldn't start to sound again like we didin the black crystal room before!  After all we still have the crystal!  I'm sure that there is a possibility that we canbreak Mallack's spell, if we just plan our next step well enough..." Yang tried to sound as hopeful as possible.

"But haven't you seen my father?"  Rosa whispered, without looking up from her healing work.  "What is there we could possibly do to break the spell?  Maybe it isn't a spell after all…"

"Don't say such things, Rosa.  He's your father - what he said about you and your mother are surely Mallack's words, not his own…" Edge gasped between clenched teeth. "Your father wouldn't talk to his child in such a way under normal means… Even as they had become monsters, my parents still remembered me in the end and--" He stopped, wishing that if he stopped speaking, the memories would stop as well.  "Let's not start with all this whining again.  We'll just need to destroy this damn black stone and everything will be alright again..."

"I'm not sure if this is sufficient… I didn't see such a thing around Golbez's neck for example..." Kain balled his fists.  "I didn't trust him from the beginning!" 

"That's enough..." Cecil suddenly stopped in his healing work and stood up, his voice unusually hard and his expression serious. "Such thoughts will not bring us anywhere. We have to act - now."

Everyone looked at him, surprised that the paladin suddenly did possess such a strength again.

"And what do you think we should do?"  Yang asked, frowning slightly.  The change in Cecil, who had been rather down just a moment ago, was a bit too sudden for his taste.

"Mallack said to meet him in the room where the Black Stone is kept, so we should try to find it.  It would be best if we would split up, though some of us should stay with Edge..."

"But I can wal.. Ouch!" Edge tried to move his leg, but soon had to accept that this wasn't possible.

"See?"  Cecil told him.  "Rosa, would you--"

"I'll stay with him!"  Rydia forestalled him.

"Hey, seems this injury has some good sides after all!"  Edge laughed quietly.  "Thanks Rydia."

The caller blushed slightly, though it was hard to tell if it was out of embarrassment or anger.  "Now don't get any wrong ideas, Edge!  Someone needs to stay here and--" She sighed in defeat as Edge was grinning as broadly as he could in her direction, his pain forgotten for a moment. "Okay... No matter what I say, you _will _getthe wrong ideas…" She rolled her eyes. "I'll still stay… Because I'm worried about you... That's...that's all!"

"Hear, hear!"  Edge smiled, but then stopped, knowing that he had gone far enough with his teasing.

"Fine.  I think that one person is enough for keeping care of Edge - so let's go!" Rosa stood up and checked the silver rapier at her side.

Cecil looked at her, aghast. "But--"

"Okay, so it's settled!"  Kain had not heard the weak protest of his friend. "Yang and I will form one group and Cecil and Rosa the other." 

"But no single-handed efforts, okay?  We only want to check the surroundings.  If we find something, we'll meet here again," Yang added.

"Sure..." Cecil bit his lip and for a moment it seemed that he was trying to avoid Yang's gaze.  "So you and Kain will take the south exit and Rosa and I will take the north way."

"But we came from the south..." Yang pointed out.

"Might I remind you that this is a maze, Yang?"  Cecil nearly snapped at him.  "We passed a lot of corridors on our way here which we didn't examine!"

"Cecil…" The friends stared at the paladin, surprised; Yang most of all.

Cecil's expression softened and he looked nearly ashamed.  "Sorry... My temper wore thinwith me... I guess that Golbez's betrayal was too much for me... I have to apologize, my friend..." He bowed slightly towards Yang.

"Don't worry.  Together we'll succeed..." The King of Fabul nodded, though watched his Paladin friend with worry in his eyes.

"Yes…" Cecil smiled, though it was a serious one. "It was always an honour fighting by your side."

The skeptical look in Yang's eyes deepened, as well as Kain's frown. "And we will fight many times together still, my friend..." Yang said, irritated. 

"Yes, of course... I didn't want to say anything else..." Cecil consoled his friend, earnestly, scattering Yang's doubts. "So let's set out and get done with the whole affair as soon as possible.  And as Yang said: No single-handed efforts."

"Yes. Take care!"  Kain nodded towards Cecil and Rosa, relieved that his friend seemed to be his old self again.  Together with Yang, he left the room through the south exit.

"You take care as well." Rosa smiled at Rydia and Edge.

"I will… I, too, once fell for Mallack's tricks and as you protected me from Kieran, I will do my part to help now.  It's something I can do."  It seemed that Rydia's fear had given way and had been replaced by a strong will not to give up. 

Cecil nodded. "Very well, Rydia… But are you sure that Rosa shouldn't--"

The girl shook her head vehemently.  "No.  Don't worry - if anyone comes to near to us, he will have to deal not only with my magic, but also with my anger."

"I just hope _I_ won't be the one…" Edge murmured, though his grey eyes sparkled mischievously despite the pain he was feeling. 

"I think they will be fine. You can stop trying to get rid of me, darling…" Rosa told her husband. "I'm coming with you."

Cecil sighed in defeat. "Very well.  But I had to give it a try…"

They left the room through the northern exit, Cecil leading the way through the maze beyond very surely as if he knew exactly where to go.

"Darling," Rosa whispered next to him. "Can you feel where Mallack is?"

Her husband frowned. "Yeah, for some reason, I know.  I knew from the moment he told me to go to the room where the stone is kept.  It might be possible that he's directing me there through his thoughts…"

Rosa looked at him, full of surprise. "But if you knew where Mallack is... Why did we have to split up?"  She did not receive an answer until they had reached another black crystal room.  There, Cecil suddenly came to a halt and turned around to face his wife with a strange, nearly painful expression on his face.

"Rosa… Where Mallack is, your father will be, as well.  I can also feel the presence of my brother.  He's waiting for me…" He took Rosa's hand in his. "I want to get him back.  If the crystal couldn't protect him, I want to…"

His wife shook her golden locks vehemently.  "But why can't we all go together?  You said no single-handed efforts..."

"Rosa," Cecil implored her**,** "you saw the state your father is in and Golbez may be in the same one!  There's no telling if there's anything…" his voice nearly failed him, "if there's anything we still can do for them.  Both have become so powerful - there's no need to endanger any more of us than necessary."

"So you lied to the others to keep them out of danger…" Rosa's words were only a whisper.  She closed her eyes and swallowed hard.  "Alright.  But at least I'm at your side.  Together we can--" She stopped speaking as Cecil suddenly drew her into his arms. 

"I'm sorry, but I can't take you with me.  This room is as far as you will accompany me…" he whispered into her ear, regret and shame in his voice.

"What!?"  Rosa pushed herself out of his embrace violently, visibly annoyed.  "Don't start with that again - I thought you had gotten over this stupid "I'm doing it alone" stuff."  Her voice began to quiver.

"Rosa!  I might be the only one being able to bring Golbez back.  Be reasonable."

"Reasonable?  Now you should start to be reasonable!  Just some seconds ago you said that we couldn't probably break the spell anyway!"  Rosa's voice was full of anger.  "You're only going because you feel obliged to do so as a Paladin!  I'm sick of it… Sacrificing everything for one greater good… Don't you see what your going off alone does to others?"  Suddenly tears were beading in her eyes. "What it does to me?"

"Rosa…" Cecil was watching the change in his wife's expression with shock - all the unwavering confidence she had radiated lately had completely disappeared.

"I told you that in the Black Crystal room that I, too, had horrible thoughts…" the young Queen of Baron averted her gaze. "Of all the countless times you went away, of all the people who have left us.  Even Dawn… But…" she sobbed and looked up, her gaze now gentle, "But then I looked next to me and I saw that after all that had happened _you_ were still there.  No matter how often we quarreled, what dangers we had to face… You were always there.  Even now… I'm so afraid of what will happen to my father, but having you by my side gives me strength.  We've never faced such a dire situation before, and I can't stand to let you go and just wait for you.  Dawn was my friend as well, and Morrison is my father.  This is not only a fight for the Blue Planet or our Kingdoms, but for _us_, personally."  She looked her husband deeply in the eyes, laying a slender hand on his cheek. "Cecil, my love… Please let us see through this together…" she pleaded. 

Cecil was watching her seriously, but otherwise strangely expressionless as if he was trying to hide his true feelings.  Then he bent down his head a bit and kissed her, not passionately, but barely brushing her lips. 

"Forgive me… But I can't…" he whispered as he slowly backed away from her. "I'll go now... Please don't try to follow me."

"No!" With a cry Rosa stormed forward and positioned herself in the doorframe leading to the next corridor. "I will not let you go alone!"

"Rosa," Cecil frowned, his voice starting to get an annoyed undertone. "Don't make it harder than it already is for me. Please let me through!" He approached the exit.

"No…" Rosa shook her head stubbornly, tears now running down her cheeks.

"Let me through!" her husband repeated and tried to push her away, carefully, but to no avail.  "Rosa, don't behave like a child! We don't have much time!"  Cecil's tone was less friendly now, but no matter how much he pleaded, scolded or tried to drag her gently away from the door, his wife withstood his efforts with all her might.

"Rosa!  Don't make me do things I might regret later!"  The Paladin felt desperate by now, and his tone was sharp.

"You can't scare me.  If you want to use violence, go on…" Rosa replied stubbornly.  "It would suit you.  After all, you don't care what your actions do to others.  And believe me: No physical assault could hurt as much as the pain you're causing my heart right now!"  she hissed, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Cecil took several steps back at once, his face stricken with grief.  "What…what are you saying?"  His voice was full of disbelief.  "I would never hurt you… Never!  I was only trying to provoke you so that you might move aside…"

His wife was sobbing harder now, and he stepped closer again, carefully wiping some tears away from her beautiful face. "I love you more than everything.  That's why I need to go alone - I don't want anything happening to you."

"Have you forgotten our promise that night in Baron?  You said that you would never leave me.  That we would see through all things, together..." Rosa confronted him.

For a moment, Cecil did not know what to say. _"She's right.  I did promise her that.  But that was when--"_

"I haven't forgotten our promise and I wished until the last moment that I could keep it," he told her, "but things have become so hopeless!  I must act before everything is too late… Please, you must understand!"

As he beheld Rosa's look, the pain in her eyes was nearly unbearable to watch for Cecil, though there was still a last glimmer of hope in them, too.  "Then promise me at least that you will come back alive…" she whispered. 

_"But…"_

The glimmer in Rosa's eyes vanished, as the only answer she got from her husband was silence.  "Cecil!  Give me an answer!  _Now_!  Promise it!"  She shouted.

"I...I can't promise you that…" the Paladin's mouth was dry and his voice was hoarse. "Your father…and Golbez...they're so strong…" 

_"Yes, it is true that I don't know if I'll survive…"_

Since their last confrontation with Morrison and since Golbez had joined Mallack's side, the Paladin's belief in a victory was swayed - maybe even since Dawn's death, no matter how much he had tried to fight against this hollow feeling inside of him.  

Rosa's eyes grew wide and she desperately tried to find any sign in Cecil's face which told her that he didn't mean what he had just said, but there wasn't.  Her husband's expression was deeply serious and full of pain.  Instead of telling her again that he couldn't promise anything, he shook his head, slightly, not daring to look her in the eyes.  In that moment, the last traces of hope and confidence seemed to fall away from the queen and the colour disappeared from her cheeks, her face becoming a pale mask, her eyes turning bitter.

_"She's content because she is not alone."_

Cecil suddenly remembered Dawn's words and realized to the full extent what his wife was going through right now.  He had put her in a hopeless situation in which there was nothing, but to loose: If it came to a fight with Mallack, she would either loose her father or her husband, and after what Cecil had said to her, it was very likely that she would loose both and companions like Golbez, as well.

Regret and sorrow raced through the Paladin with an intensity he had not known before - what he had to do seemed to be the hardest decision in his life until now.

_"Dawn… I wonder if you would have scolded me. Probably, with you, we would have ended differently than this…"_ he wondered, but she was no longer there.  However, _this_ moment was real and he had made his decision.  He swallowed hard and carefully tried to move Rosa out of his way once more - this time, she complied wordlessly and without any resistance: something seemed to have broken in her.

For a moment Cecil still hesitated - leaving Rosa like this seemed to be the greatest crime he could possibly commit.  He desperately wished in this moment that he just could turn around and take her in his arms, wished that his wife could read his thoughts, as words could never fully express what she meant to him, how great the love was that he felt for her.  And how great his shame of having to betray her so badly was.  He suddenly felt a pull inside of him - like some dark power was motioning him to come. 

_"Golbez…Or Mallack…I have to go..." _Before Cecil left the room, he looked once more at his wife: She stood motionless, her back turned to him.  Even her sobbing had ceased.

"Can you ever forgive me for this?" he asked quietly, but she didn't answer, letting his words die away as if they meant nothing to her.  Bowing his head, the Paladin turned around and was about to go, but Rosa's voice held him back: 

"Cecil… If you don't come back alive... I'll... I'll kill you!"

The Paladin nodded - what sounded like a joke was only another sign of the desperation he had plunged his wife into and it filled him with sadness. "Please forgive me…" he whispered and started to walk away.  Behind him he could feel how the mask of Rosa broke, how she couldn't hold back her tears and fears any longer. 

As, behind his back, his wife slumped down onto the floor, crying, Cecil thought that his heart would break…


	26. Chapter 25: The worst pain of all

**25.**

_The worst pain of all_

As Cecil had sensed it, Golbez was not far away. His brother was waiting for him in an oval room, and even with the bright illumination of the torches, the blackness of the surroundings was still depressing and overwhelming. As Golbez spotted his brother, he raised an amused eyebrow, as it was his custom. However, his eyes were not the eyes Cecil knew, but cold, hard and glittering madly. 

Before Cecil could address his brother, the air was filled with chuckling and out of nowhere a hologram of Mallack appeared next to Golbez.  "So you decided to confront us alone?  How utterly courageous…" 

"Courageous is a thing one can't apply to you, Mallack -- or shall I say Nathaniel?  When will you and your servants stop using these magical tricks and show yourself in person instead?"  Cecil demanded with a strong voice.  He would be damned if he would let show his nervousness about his brother.

"Nathaniel, eh?  I guess Dawn told you our story... Where is she anyway?  I can't feel her presence…"

Astonishment crept over Cecil's face. _"He doesn't know?"_

"I'm surprised you didn't notice it..." he said, though it was hard for him to keep his voice stable -- the remembrance of Dawn was still too painful for him.  "After all it was you who sent Sir Samon after us.  Dawn…is dead," He said, burning sadness and anger in his eyes, "and she died through the hands of your own servant!"

_"No, it was not Samon alone who killed her…"_

Mallack's hologram flickered for moment, as if its creator had problems keeping up the magic spell.  Still, one couldn't see a change in the features of the apparition -- only Mallack's voice gave proof that the man was confused: "This is a lie… She can't be dead - you're only trying to hide her from me! She's a skilled manipulator too and might have learned to hide her thoughts from me…" His tone took on a more aggressive note.  "Don't play with me, Paladin, or I'll teach you what _real _playing means..."

"Then show yourself in person!"  Cecil snapped, while watching Golbez, who was now slowly approaching him. 

"You'll face me soon enough.  _Maybe…" Mallack replied coldly.  "But right now I'm sure that you have some things to discuss with your brother."_

"What have you done with him?"

Mallack's triumphant laughter echoed through the room. "It was so easy to bring him to our side.  Isn't it ironic?  Because he wanted to protect you, he forsook the power of the crystal, and now he himself will cause his brother to fall!  You can decide, Paladin - either you surrender and submit to our side right now or you try to fight your brother."

"He will never submit to our side…" Golbez said darkly. "He's fully under the command of this cursed crystal."  To Cecil's horror, his brother drew out his sword.

"You may be right, my friend.  If possible, do not try to disfigure him too much.  If he still looks halfway alive when you're through with him, we can use him to lure the others…" Mallack smiled cruelly. 

"Golbez!  Don't!"  Cecil pleaded, though unsheathed his own sword, Legend, as his brother had come dangerously close by now.

"Have fun, fallen King.  See what your power of the crystal can do against our one - the power of free will!  I'll see you later with the crystal shard, Golbez…" Mallack's apparition mocked before it vanished, leaving Cecil alone with his brother.

"There you have it…" Golbez sighed, feigning sympathy.  "I told you to stay away from me, but you wouldn't listen!"  With a swift motion he stormed towards Cecil, sword raised, but the Paladin blocked the blow and both ended facing each other with crossed blades.

"Golbez!  Try to remember!  Try to remember your true self!"  Cecil begged, surprised that though his brother was not a good sword fighter, he wielded tremendous strength.

"You still do not understand!  This _is_ my true self.  The one no one, most of all _you,_ would accept!"  Golbez thundered, knocking Cecil's sword to one side to prepare for another blow.

"No! This is not true! Mallack is enslaving you like Zeromus did!" Cecil sidestepped Golbez's next attack.

"Mallack did not enslave me, but made me see.  What I had feared all along turned out to be true - Zeromus chose me, because my being was different from that of others, because my soul was dark.  But in its darkness it was also strong and our father knew that the crystal would reject me.  It even rejects me now, but I don't care as I have seen that its powers are not better than the ones Zeromus granted me.  And even more," Golbez started to attack Cecil with a series of fast blows, which the other dodged as best as he could, "the creators of the Crystal, your beloved Lunarians, are not better than Zeromus.  A force of good?  Hah--I pity you.  You're the only one being enslaved!" 

Cecil still did not want to give up. "Golbez!  Brother… Let me help you.  Don't listen to Mallack--listen to yourself!" he shouted, although his voice was nearly drowned outin the loud metallic crashing of their blades.

Golbez suddenly stopped his attacks and backed away a bit, regarding his brother coldly.  

"I'm already listening to myself.  And this is what I found - power!" he hissed sharply and suddenly wielded his sword one handedly, the other hand raised upwards.  "Bolt!" 

Cecil, who had been occupied with defending his brother's blow and persuading him to stop, had no time to evade the spell and was hit by several strokes of lightening, one of them knocking his sword out of his hand.  He fell to one knee as the pain soared through his body, and dizziness seized his head.  Before he could recover, Golbez was by his side and had him at the throat, raising him one-handedly and without effort into the air.

"Golbez… Please…" the Paladin gasped -- he could hardly speak, as Golbez's merciless grip was slowly stranglinghim.  His brother watched the struggle of the Paladin calmly, his eyes still as cold and cruel as before. 

"This is nearly too easy," Golbez sneered, "I thought you would put up a better fight.  But it's as Mallack said: your power is nothing against ours."

_"What can I do?!  Nothing seems to be able to bring him to his senses, again… Ifhe even is under a spell..."_ Cecil tried to free himself from Golbez's grip, but it was too strong and the Paladin's strength was already wavering as the lack of air was clouding his mind. Accidentally, his hand brushed against the crystal in the pocket of his cloak and instinctively, he took it in his hand. The crystal was warm to the touch, calming, but it was no use in the situation Cecil was in.  Golbez's grip did not lessen and the Paladin knew that he was done for. 

_"Why... I'm so sorry... Rosa..." _

Still clasping the crystal, he closed his eyes as he could no longer stand to look into the cruel and disdainful eyes of his brother.  Suddenly the pressure around his neck disappeared and he landed abruptly on the floor.__

"What…" The Paladin slowly opened his eyes.  A disgusted look on his face, Golbez was staring down at him, or better, at the crystal in his hand. 

"Even in the moment of death you cling to this damn stone!  But I'll not fall for your tricks.  You were trying to drag me into death with you!" the dark-haired man hissed.

"What are you talking about?"  Cecil coughed, bringing on hand to his hurting throat, "The crystal can drag no one to death…"

The black wizard shook his head.  "Mallack told me to bring the crystal to him, but perhaps I'd bettertry to destroy it together with you.  Not even this bauble can withstand my powers!"  He prepared for another spell.

Cecil watched him with desperation - Legend was lying several feet away, and the lack of air had made him feel weak.  _"But I'm still alive... Jonas, Dawn - all have at least fought until the bitter end, so it's the least I can do as well…" _He concentrated and prepared for a wall spell: magic, he had learned while being on Mt. Ordeals with Dawn. 

"Fire!" Golbez cast his spell, but Cecil had finished his preparations just in time: the fiery missiles bounced against an unseen force in front of him and reflected back, hitting Golbez in the shoulder.  With a sound of surprise and pain, the wizard stumbled backwards and he let go of his sword accidentally.  Cecil, the crystal still in his hand, used this moment to get on his feet and rushed towards his brother, somehow managing bring the other man down.  Nearly at the end of his energy, he grabbed for Golbez's sword with his free hand and pointed it to the neck of the men kneeling before him.

His brother looked up to him without fear.  "Very impressive.  Maybe I've underestimated your strength after all…" He started to chuckle slightly, paying no attention to the deadly blade at his throat.  "But then again I should have known--after all, you defeated Zeromus…" He tiltedhis head to the side, causing the point of Cecil's sword to cut his skin slightly.  A little pool of red formed where the sharp steel and the skin had met and, slowly, some blood began to trickle down Golbez's throat.  

"Golbez! Stop it!"  Cecil was breathing fast, trying to keep the point of his weapon away from Golbez's throat, not daring to stop threatening him altogether.

"What are you waiting for?  Bring it to an end…" Golbez urged him.

The Paladin regarded his brother with silent horror.  _"I cannot kill him… But what can I do?" _

"You hesitate?" his brother taunted.  "If you don't kill me, I will kill you…"

"Golbez.  Please come to your senses!"  Cecil implored the other, despair in his eyes.

"I fear that I can't do that.  You should act quickly, now…" the dark wizard grinned and started to mumble some incantations.

_"No…"_ Helplessly Cecil had to watch how his brother was preparing another--this time probably devastating--spell.  He could try to knock Golbez unconscious, but there was no telling if he still had enough strength left for that.  _"There's only one solution left… But I cannot--" _He looked at the sword against the throat of his brother, it's tip reddened by the other's blood and for the first time during all the fights the Paladin had fought, the hand holding the weapon began to shake… __

"Didn't I tell you never to choose me over others?"  Golbez mocked him between two magical formulas. "It seems that your sympathy for me makes you weak."

_"He's right... I'm powerless in this moment..." _

Cecil was at a loss, but he just couldn't bring himself to deal his brother the coup de grâce.  The desperation in the Paladin changed to fury, fury thathe did not know what to do; fury that everything seemed so futile and that Golbez was lost to him - lost because a mad wizard named Mallack was stronger than they all were.  He suddenly got aware that the crystal in his hand was still shining warmly, but what did all that light help do in a moment when hope was lost? 

_"No... Hope is never lost..."_

Still, right now, it seemed that way: By now, Golbez had nearly finished the incantations for his final spell - there was not much time left for Cecil to decide his next move.  He tried to think of a way out of this mess, but he could not concentrate: anger was soaring too strongly through his veins, feeding from the helplessness he felt, and desperation and disbelief that it had come this far were blocking his thoughts.

_"It cannot end like this… I will not let it happen!"_

Cecil's sword fell clattering to the ground. 

Golbez looked up to him, slightly surprised, but also smiling cruelly.  "That was a mistake…" 

The sarcastic tonein his brother's voice broke the limit of Cecil's shaking self-control: 

"Brother!  Damnit!  _Snap out of it_!"  With all strength left, he let go of the crystal in his pocket and gave Golbez a thundering slap in the face, sending the older man backwards onto the hard tiles on the ground.

_"...What have I done?"_

Cecil stared at his brother, who lay lifeless on the floor, head turned away from him.  The Paladin's gaze wandered to his hand, which was still raised: his palm was gleaming, much similar to the way the crystal had glowed before.  And indeed, as he looked closer, it seemed as if crystal dust was covering the skin of his hand.  For a moment he feared that the crystal had been destroyed, but to his relief, it was in his pocket - somehow, the former contact with the black stone had only weakened the crystal's structure.  Cecil directed his attention once more on Golbez, who had still not moved. 

_"I couldn't have killed him, could I?  It was only a slap…"_ Burning shame filled the Paladin as he realized his action.

"I've slapped my brother like a coward…" he murmured - in fact this was something he had always thought of as disgraceful and cowardly - only once, as he'd still been a Dark Knight; he had slapped someone, and even back than, he had not been proud of it.  

Suddenly, Golbez stirred slightly - though Cecil felt oddly tempted to apologize to the other for the slap right now, he reminded himself that his brother was still under Mallack's spell.  Quickly, he picked up Legend.

Just now, Golbez had regained consciousness again and he raised his head, looking at the tip of the sword Cecil was pointing at him. "What happened?" was all he brought forth. 

This simple reaction surprised Cecil. "Golbez?" He asked suspiciously.

His brother raised an eyebrow.  "Judging from your expression, it seems that I gave you a reason to threaten me with a weapon, am I correct?" he asked dryly, though eyed the room around him, frowning.  Like before he had little care for the sword pointed at him and he raised a hand to his forehead, leaning a bit forward.  "Where are we?  I'm feeling dizzy…"

"Is...is this another trick?" Cecil blinked nervously, still not daring to let the sword down.

"Trick?"  Suddenly, Golbez's eyes turned bitter: "Mallack got me, didn't he?"  He slowly raised his head again, searching for an answer in Cecil's eyes.

The Paladin nodded slowly. "And I'm not sure if the spell over you is broken…" 

"I see…" Golbez nodded.  "My thoughts are still clouded, so that I'm not even sure myself who I am… And I can think of nothing that I could say or do to prove to you that I'm back to my old self.  This means," his expression turned hard, "that it might be best to use this sword of yours…"

"What?  I...I should kill you?"  Cecil stared at him, aghast - it seemed as if this nightmare would never end.  "No way…"

"I thought you'd say so…" Golbez laughed hoarsely.  "But it may be the only possibility... Imagine what would happen if Mallack's control over me is only disrupted for a while?  You cannot trust me any longer!"

_"What can I do to test him?"_  The Paladin could only think of one way.  "Maybe… Maybe the crystal can help somehow…" he said slowly, and, praying that he was doing the right thing, handed it to Golbez. "Here, take it..."

The wizard looked at the stone, skeptical.  "The only thing it will do is kill me… Though if you won't kill me, the crystal will at least…" he laughed bitterly and reached for it.  With closed eyes, he clasped it in his hand, expecting soaring pain...which did not came.  The wizard opened his eyes.  "Why am I still alive?" He whispered disbelieving.

With a sigh of relief, Cecil's sword flew once again to the ground.  "Brother!  I'm so glad.  I thought you were lost..." He couldn't hold back his feelings and went upon his knees to embrace Golbez.

"Cecil…What has gotten into you?"  Golbez's expression filled with confusion as his younger brother fell around his neck.  Slightly embarrassed, he put the crystal to the ground and carefully patted the other's back, not knowing what else to do.

Cecil leaned back on his heels and smiled at him.  "If you'd still been under Mallack's control you would have tried to destroy the crystal!  But you didn't… That was when I knew that you were normal again!"

Golbez shook his head with incomprehension. "That was a foolish plan.  Imagine what would have happened if I'd still been under his control?!  Even now, who's to tell that I'm not playing a trick on you again?"

Cecil went pale, though calmed again as he noticed that Golbez's eyes were no longer regarding him coldly, but nearly concerned. 

"Sorry, I didn't want to worry you even more…" the dark-haired man said, "I just wanted to show you that your actions were very risky ones." He frowned. "Speaking of risky actions… Where are the others?  Don't tell me that you went off to fight me all alone?"  Before Cecil could answer, Golbez sighed and held up a hand: "No… That was a stupid question… _Of course_ you followed me alone..."

Cecil had to grin - normally Golbez's behaviour would have made him upset, but right now each of his remarks were proof that his brother was indeed back to his old self.  

"I… I'm glad that you're alright.  I was really sure that Mallack had won this time and was short of giving you up!" he admitted.  

A painful expression swept across his brother's face upon trying to remember what had happened. 

"It was so vain of me to believe that I could fight against Mallack's methods," Golbez said darkly.  "He just read my thoughts in the crystal room and from that moment on knew exactly what to do to bring me to his side…  He provoked me until I threw the crystal away and tried to kill him with all my power -- he then used this moment of hate and rage to lure me with his magic."  He bowed his head.  "And the worst thing is that not everything he had said were lies… What he said about my inner being...and about the crystal rejecting me…"

Cecil would have liked to ask about this "inner being" but it interested him also what Mallack had said about the crystal.  "Rejecting you?  Well, it's true that you obviously can't use its powers -- even I couldn't, at first.  However, it seems to be the thing which saved you from Mallack's spell… I think…"

Golbez looked surprised.  "It did?  What _did _you doto bring me back to my senses, by the way?"  For the first time, he got aware that his right cheek hurt and he touched it, a questioning look on his face.  As he saw his brother blush, an amused smile crept across his face: "Don't tell me you slapped me…"

Cecil blushed even more. "I'm sorry… But I didn't know what else to do - I was so angry…" 

Golbez laughed loudly. "_This_ is the most amusing thing I've ever heard!  The holy Paladin forgets all honour and slaps his brother, thus saving him!  Maybe you should have done such a thing earlier…"

Cecil frowned. "Don't start to mock me again... I didn't like doing it.  Besides I think it was not the slap, but the power of the crystal that was still flowing in my veins which broke Mallack's spell..."

Golbez got serious at once.  "If this is the truth, I do not understand why it hurt so much when I touched the crystal in Mallack's presence…" He carefully picked up the crystal once more and concentrated.  Again, nothing happened.  His eyes flashed open again.  "Strange… I didn't feel anything…" He sounded nearly relieved.  "This means that the things he said about my heart and the core of my powers were not necessarily true…"

"Your heart?  I don't understand…" Cecil wondered.  "But about the pain you felt as you touched the crystal - it seems as if Mallack tricked you several times…"

"Yes… He really succeeded in twisting my mind," Golbez agreed darkly.  "And I'm afraid to find out what I did under his control when the memory comes back…"

"Don't worry…" Not wanting to trouble his brother too much right now, Cecil quickly tried to hide the red marks on his throat by pulling up his cloak, but Golbez had already spotted them.

"I did those, didn't I?" he asked in a low, pressed voice.   

"You were under his control… You--" Cecil started.

"No."  Golbez shook his head.  "There's no excuse for this. That Mallack was able to make me injure you shows even more that I'm still a puppet of the dark side.  I'm endangering all of you and you should…"

_Slap! _

Cecil's hand hit Golbez in the face before he could dodge it, though the slap wasn't as hard as the last one.  The Paladin looked at his brother, breathing heavily, anger in his eyes. 

"There - is it that what you want me to do?  Since you came here tothe Blue Planet you left out no situation to provoke me, mock me… You tell me to kill you, to put the greater good over you, and all this only in order to protect me and the others.  Dawn told me about what you asked her in the Mist caves.  All the time you were afraid that Mallack would enslave you like Zeromus did, so you tried to keep me away from you so that I would not get hurt!"  Golbez was staring at Cecil wordlessly, not even raising an eyebrow. 

"You always told me not to trust you," his brother continued, "still I did and my judgment was right.  Yes, Mallack _was able to get you under his spell, but I also managed to get you back to your old self again!  It's not your soul - it's the way you hide your problems and true feelings from everyone which made you vulnerable for Mallack's manipulation, Golbez!"_

The wizard frowned.  "What do you know about--"

"I know a lot!"  Cecil snapped. "I might not be able to understand certain things about you as good as I should, but I _know_ that if you had such a black soul as you pretend to have, one of us would be dead by now!  So start to trust me and start to trust **_yourself_**!"  Cecil was still agitated.

Golbez smiled weakly.  "And what was the slap for?"

Cecil's face went red.  "That was for all the times you brought me into hating you, doubting you... Besides its what you wanted me to do all this time - you said so yourself.  So tell me, are you content now?  And don't lie!" 

"Very well.  You want the truth…" Golbez took a deep breath, looked his brother directly in the face and suddenly, only for a moment, all his distance and coldness seemed to disappear, only one thing staying after his cynical façade had dropped: 

Terrible loneliness. 

"No… I didn't like it… It hurt,"  he admitted and Cecil knew that his brother wasn't referring to the physical pain.  The reaction left the Paladin deeply moved: though the words had been simple, they were the most emotional and true statement he had ever heard from Golbez -- and the one which showed most sympathy. 

"So… You really do care after all…" he whispered.

"Maybe I do.  But don't get too used to it..." Golbez said and suddenly was back to his old mocking expression.  "There's still a lot about me which you don't understand…" As he saw his brother frown, he added with a slight grin: "And maybe I don't understand some things myself.  I'm just saying that you shouldn't put your hopes too high concerning my person. But for now, I believe I have to apologize for the things I put you through since I've arrived here.  You're going after Mallack, am I right?  Will you still fight together with me?"  The question sounded nearly afraid, although Golbez's eyes were looking slightly mocking as usual.  

Cecil stood up, and wordlessly stretched out his hand.  As Golbez took it and let himself be helped up, the Paladin smiled: "Normally I'd have to tell you to stay behind, but this time I think that it will be a great surprise for Mallack to see you…"

_"Is this the only reason?"_ his brother's eyes seemed to ask, so Cecil felt compelled to add:

"I'd also like to have you at my side and when it comes to a fight, two persons are better than one…" 

"Yes…" Golbez replied dryly.  "It might at least better the chance of winning against Mallack and Morrison from _totally _impossible to _nearly _impossible..."

"Yes, as _nearly _impossible as you made it for me to release you from Mallack's spell..." This time it was Cecil's turn to mock and he watched with satisfaction to see Golbez first frown, then grin at him:

"You're learning…" the dark-haired man said. 

"Yes… You see: one should never give up hope."  Cecil smiled.  "And now let's tryif this will prove true until the end…" 

_To anyone who's still reading this: We're reaching the end of the story with big steps. Only three chapters (and an epilogue) more to go!  I just felt the urge to remark it – it has been such a long way (and time;) towards finishing the whole series…___


	27. Chapter 26: Trust and Betrayal

_Showdown, part one…_

**26.**

_Trust and Betrayal_

"He's near. I can feel it..." Cecil whispered to his brother.  The long, black corridor they were walking along was illuminated by a strange blue light, which flickered in the crystalline pillars alongthe way. At the end of the surreal seeming hallway a door, constructed out of dark wood and inlaid with golden ornaments, became visible.

"Still no guards…" Golbez remarked, "Mallack does not seem to fear intruders."

Cecil nodded. "He probably was sure that his magic or _your person would stop me and the others. And in the black crystal room, it indeed looked for a while as if we would just stop and turn back. It's thanks to Rosa that we didn't," he murmured, once more remembering the bitter way he had left his beloved wife._

"Speaking of Rosa -- where are the others?" his brother asked.

Not looking at the other, Cecil replied, sounding as casual as possible: "They're safe. I hope so, at least."

Golbez nodded, slightly grinning. "I see… I will not ask any further how you managed to keep them out fromall this.  So it's really only us two against Mallack…"

"And against Morrison…" Cecil added gloomily, "He's probably our greatest problem. If we could just expose him to the powers of the crystal, we might be able to break the spell. But I don't know how we can possibly do this! He's a very skilled fighter and if he unleashes his Dark Wave move, we won't be able to get near him. It is even stronger than the Dark Wave I was able to use as a Dark Knight…"

Golbez frowned. "Sometimes I forget that you once were on the dark side... So, can you remember any weak points this attack could have?"

Cecil reflected for a moment. "No... Only that it draws upon the strength and life energy of the user... As we met Morrison for the first time in the crystal room in Mysidia, he used the Dark Wave several times in a row, and suddenly looked pretty worn out. Not that it did help us much, though…" 

"Still, it would be a good idea to make Morrison tired, before we plan our next action," Golbez suggested.

"Yeah, your plan sounds easy enough, but I wonder if we can withstand his attacks long enough to carry it out…" Cecil remarked skeptically.

"This shouldn't be _your_ problem," Golbez told him, "Besides we will find out if the plan works, right now…" He pointed towards the door, which opened as if by magic, giving way to a great hall and a figure in dark armour. 

Cecil's voice was only a whisper: "Morrison… This time in real, I hope…" 

"I fear that I can't let you go any further!" the Dark Knight's strong voice echoed though the gloomy halls.

"I'll take care of him," Golbez stated calmly, pushing his brother aside. "Mallack can't be far - you take care of him and the black stone…"

"Golbez, you can't face Morrison alone!" the Paladin hissed, but the look in Golbez's eyes silenced him.

Golbez spoke out what his eyes already had pleaded: "Please trust me...brother…"

Cecil nodded gravely. "Very well.  I will… But please take care - no suicidal actions…"

"I understand.  They are your territory, anyway," Golbez grinned and then approached the grey-haired man in black armour.

"So, your brother managed to lure you back into a restricted, poor life. How unfavourable.  You would have been a valuable help to our group..." Morrison greeted him.

The wizard gave him a cold stare.  "It seems as if Mallack has conditioned his puppy well.  It's time to release you from his influence, Morrison..."

"Release? That was something I was planning to do, as well… I'm going to release _you -- from your life!"  Morrison sneered.  "Dark Wave!"_

With worry, Cecil had to watch how Golbez was sent to the ground, the effects of Morrison spell noticeable on the place he was standing. However, no matter how much he wanted to help his brother, he knew that he had to go on: Now that Golbez was distracting Morrison, he had a chance to enter the next room and face Mallack. And thus, once more leaving someone he cared for behind, he used the commotion of the ongoing fight to slip through the other exit of the room. His action did not stay unnoticed by Morrison, though, who sent a disdainful smile after the Paladin before concentrating on Golbez, who was still lying on the floor…

*******

The boots of the Paladin echoed on the gold-black marble of the hall - to Cecil's strained nerves, even this sound was stifling.  Not even as they had entered Zeromus' lair he had felt that nervous, but back then many things had been different, as the whole Blue Planet had been standing behind them.  This time, though, they were alone - if he or any of his companions would die here, most of the Blue Planet's citizens would probably rejoice...

_"How can one man manage what not even an alien like Zeromus could accomplish?"  _

The surroundings did not do much to calm Cecil, as well: the room was rather high, and lined with mirrors out of dark glass, reflecting his figure a thousand times. Like the room and corridor before, the hall was lit by columns filled with blue light, which seemed to lay itself like a veil over everything, giving the Paladin's bright hair a strange colour and making his whole appearance somehow darker. As he cautiously crossed the room, a disturbing feeling crept over him, similar to the one he had had in the black crystal room--it was like some dark, sticky force was filling the air, drowning out even the calming feel of the crystal in his pocket. 

As Cecil reached the middle of the room, he spotted the cause of this: at the end of a room, a dais stood. Sitting on it was nothing more than a black lump of stone, about twice as big as a fist, though the power which seemed to emanate from its polished surface would have fitted better an object several times as big. It was obviousthat this wasn't just a stone. 

_"So this is source of Mallack's might…"_ Cecil remembered what Golbez had told him and he wondered if this was really Zeromus' heritage. 

_"Zeromus or not, the object is getting used for evil intentions and needs to be destroyed…"_  

Still, doubts were filling Cecil, and he suddenly feared again that the crystal shard might not be enough to end what the power of the black stone had begun…  Just then he got aware that in the shadows of a pillar next to the dais, a figure was seated. 

_"Mallack…"_

Suddenly, blue lights flashed, so that the features of the man became visible - it was indeed Mallack, his face a mask of cold ivory, his lips curved into a smile as he studied the Paladin before his and, although strands of his black hair were nearly veiling Mallack's dark green eyes, his piercing gaze seemed to go right through the young man standing before him.

Suddenly, fighting noises were audible from the other room and Cecil could hear the angry scream of a man - it was Golbez's voice… 

"So you were able to "bring your brother back", like you would call it..." Mallack finally addressed him with a calm voice. "Maybe the Lunarian powers have strength after all.  I have to applaud you." He started to clap his hands and the sound of it slowly filled the hall, getting louder and louder, until each clap seemed to shake the crystalline structures of the room -- even more so, the noise seemed to draw upon the Paladin's nerves and to stir his innermost soul. Cecil knew that Mallack was trying to unnerve him and he tried to stay calm, directing his thoughts to the crystal in his pocket as well as to his friends and loved ones. 

"It were not only my "Lunarian powers" that brought me that far, but the fact that your mad tricks do not always work…" he said in a strong voice and stepped closer. Although it was tempting to attack the other right now, for some reason, Cecil needed to know why Mallack had done all this - he had to know what kind of man would forsake everything, even the love of a person such as Dawn, just for power.

Mallack was obviously not planningonleaving his seat and confronting the Paladin in a fight just now, as well."Tricks?  I'm tricking no one.  All I do is showing people the truth. The truth about their life - their restricted life under the rule of an alien might and a decadent symbol such as the crystal…"

"No one is under the rule of the Lunarians or under the rule of the crystal - the crystals were a gift from my ancestors to the people of the Blue Planet to make their life easier!" Cecil retorted angrily.

"Oh… And did they make things easier and better?  Think of the airships which were used in the last war... They have been built by Lunarian plans," Mallack reasoned.

"It's not the airships that are at fault, but the way we used them…" Cecil shook his head.  "Besides, you're using an airship yourself… You're preaching before people about the horrors of the crystal, and the diminished Lunarian inventions, but you're using all these things as well - your goal is not to free the people, but to get them under your control.  Your black stone is not less decadent than the crystal shard I possess, even more so as its origin is probably Lunarian, as well!"

Mallack's grin disappeared and he stood up slowly. "Maybe both are decadent, but the black stone has far more warmth, love and pity for us humans than your crystal…"

"Warmth?  Love?  Pity?  You're using the powers of the stone to enslave people and dare to speak of such things?" Cecil hissed.

Mallack smiled with disdain. "You do not understand anything. You may think that the crystal is "good", that it is "holy", but it is easy for you to believe this as the crystal always fulfilled _your_ wishes. But I, I got to know its true nature..." 

His expression became bitter as he continued: "The world is merciless to misfits, to people who do not live their life the way society has it planned for them.  I had to experience this as I was still a boy, but I managed to free myself from the oppression of others. Yes, I even started to believe that you could achieve everything if you just believed in yourself and worked hard for it.  I wanted to share my experiences with others, so that they would not have to suffer like I had to.  I wanted to make the world a better place for everyone, to show the people that being "different" from others was not a curse, but a wonderful chance!  That's one reason why I traveled to Mt. Ordeals and prayed at the shrine in order to achieve the power of the crystal.  You see, the powers the shrine can give have their source in the might of the Lunarian crystals.  If I had been granted the power of the shrine, I would have been able to show the people that everything is possible - even for a black mage to gain White magic!  So I kneeled before the stone column, meditating, praying, begging for I don't know how long… "

He shook his head, "I would have given everything for it, but the shrine just didn't open… As the days passed by, I used force - I used all the magical and scientific skills I had acquired through the years to get the shrine to open, but it just wouldn't let me in..." 

His eyes narrowed to little slits and he stared at Cecil, full of hate.  "So I ask you: Why?  Why did the shrine open to _you_?  I know your story… Why was the gift of White magic and the powers of a Paladin bestowed on a Black Knight, who has done nothing else than inflict pain on others his wholelife?  Why did the crystal work in your hands - in the hands of a person who only became a Paladin because he had no choice and because his father was a Lunarian?  Why did it not choose me?  I wanted to become a Paladin, I wanted to help the people, I hoped to conquer death itself…" For a moment he paused, obviously lost in memories, only to continue even more fiercely:

"I tell you why the shrine didn't open to me: it's because the crystal and with it the Lunarians only grant their powers to people who are malleable, who will blindly obey their wishes and follow their "Holy" guiding principles without questioning them!  Have you ever asked yourself what all the suffering you had to endure since you became Paladin was for? You saw that the people are not satisfied - even with all the oh-so-great inventions the Lunarians brought us. Even now you are dependent on the crystal, hoping that it might destroy the black stone… But if you destroy it, you destroy something which does grant power freely without asking for anything in return…" He motioned to the black stone, nearly lovingly: "What the Shrine and the crystal withheld from me, it granted me… Maybe its source is Lunarian, maybe it has a connection to Zeromus, but as said: it does not choose you, but _you _choose it and with that it is also in _your_ power to use it… And I use it to _change_ the world, not to destroy it…"

Cecil had listened to Mallack's words attentively and slowly he started to understand what drove the other. _"Dawn told me that Mallack hadn't been a bad person and that he actually only wanted to show other people his worth… And to protect others - like his family, like Dawn… In his eyes, the shrine and with it the Symbol of the Lunarian race, the crystal, rejected him for no apparent reason - rejected him like his own people… But still, somehow what he says sounds so wrong…"_

"What you're saying is not true…" he said aloud. "The crystal does not choose people after the principles you mentioned.  It may be true that I was favoured because my father was a Lunarian, but I also was an outsider, a misfit like you called it… I once was a black knight, but I fought against this fate, just as you have fought against the path others wanted you to go…"  

"So you think you can compare yourself with me?  Fine, if you want to… But tell me, Paladin: under what guiding principles do the Shrine and the Crystal choose then?" Mallack hissed.

"…I don't know…" the Paladin had to admit in a low voice. 

_"I have often asked this, myself…"_

Mallack broke into shrill laughter. "There we have it!  You are following a codex, the codex of the Paladin and you don't even know what it exactly is what you're following or why? And you want to tell me that you're free?" 

"Whether I follow a codex or not, does not matter... I only said that I don't know why the crystal, why my father, chose me.  But I know very well what I believe in... And most of all I believe in freedom and the opportunity to shape one's life like one wants, even though this is not always possible. But I agree with you in the point that one has _to try_ to shape it - but not if it means to hurt other people in the progress!"

"I hurt no one.  I gave people the opportunity to let out their deepest feelings... I freed them from their fears!  Though for some, the freedom was too much - like for Dawn who couldn't grasp what I was trying to do and betrayed everything we believed in… And you all don't understand either..."

Cecil shook his head. "This is not true.  It's you who doesn't understand. Me, my friends, Dawn--we all are not adapted creatures, like you call us. We all had to make decisions at one point or another which went against the common sense. But _you_ went too far: out of hurt pride and over-ambitiousness you didn't know when to stop in your try to live life like you want to!  Being able to preserve ones own identity must not mean that others will have to suffer!  You're not giving people a chance, but in your egoism, you're taking it from them…"

"No, I'm giving them hope! The hope that the world can become a better place for everyone! A better place for an old man like Claudius, who had only his magic, but no family, no home… A better place for a young, gifted person like Kieran, who had been mocked by others all the time because he was different from them… A better place for an ambitious person like Samon, who didn't want to spend his life in the restricted military ranks in a backwater town…  _And_ a better place for a man named Morrison, who nearly died due to the useless and dictatoric orders of a slobbering King!"  Mallack began to become more and more agitated.

"Hope? The people around you may have wished for something as that - they may have wished for freedom, for a place to belong to, for their dreams to come true… But all you did was use them, use them for your own mad wishes!  What has become of Claudius, Kieran and Samon?  They are all dead! You _took_ all hope from them…" A wave of grief and anger surged up in the Paladin. "And a life without hope is nothing.  That's why Dawn died!"

For a moment Mallack said nothing and only looked at Cecil, his eyes blinking nervously. 

"So...so she's really dead…" It sounded still disbelieving and Mallack took a step closer to the Paladin as if he was searching in Cecil's face for something telling him that the other was lying.  However, the only thing he found was deep sorrow in the Paladin's expression, and for a moment Mallack's eyes lost their mad glimmer and his lips started to tremble slightly. 

"While you were fighting with your brother, I searched for her, telepathically… I didn't find her.  So...it's really true… I just don't understand… Samon wasn't supposed to kill her...so how could she…" He suddenly trailed off and averted his gaze.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Cecil's voice was hoarse, and for a moment he nearly felt pity for the man before him. This changed, as Mallack's gaze snapped back to him, his eyes sparkling not only once more with madness, but now also with incredible rage. 

"What do you know of love, Paladin?" His voice was as sharp as dagger. "It is something that doesn't exist.  We're all alone in the end and too different to feel something true for the other…"

"Still you once used to believe in love, as well!"  Cecil replied angrily, "You've only changed your opinion because Dawn left you!  That's why you told Morrison all these horrible things about love and family!  You couldn't cope with your loneliness, after Dawn couldn't stand your mad hunger for power anymore!"

The hate in Mallack's eyes suddenly became so frighteningly powerful, that Cecil nearly took a step back.

"No! Dawn left me because I wasn't good enough for her… Because the Shrine rejected me! She called herself a Paladin, right?"  Mallack laughed bitterly. "She was maybe dreaming of the same power I was dreaming of and in you she found what she was looking for!  From the moment I met you in the Tororia, I knew that she had chosen you over me.  She loved you - and she maybe even died for you!  Had she chosen my side, she would still be alive… I can see guilt in your eyes - now I understand: It was not Samon who killed her, but you! Like you killed Claudius!"

Cecil wanted to contradict him, but he couldn't: _"It is true.  I killed Claudius and didn't do anything to help Kieran.  There was no other way... But with her... Maybe I...could have done something… It may be my fault alone that she died…"_

"I did not lay a hand on her.  She was one of the most important persons in my life…" he brought forth in a low voice - there was no sense in hiding the truth, as Mallack had probably seen through him already, "But it is true that she might still be alive if she hadn't fallen in love with me…"

"I see… Death was the punishment for Kieran and Claudius because they opposed you. But death was also the reward for _siding _with you and the Crystal… So I will reward death to you, as well!"  With a quick motion, Mallack suddenly pulled a black obsidian axe from behind the chair he had been sitting in. "I'll revenge Dawn - first you took her away, and now you're trying to take away the source of my power as well!  I will not let you!" A terrible smile on his face, he stormed towards Cecil, his weapon raised over his head with one hand, as if the giant axe was weightless, the fingers of the other hand pointed at his opponent: "I'll show you the power of the black stone! Fire!   Ice!  Bolt !  I command you!"

With a terrible exploding sound, huge amounts of magic energy rained, crashing mercilessly onto the Paladin…


	28. Chapter 27: A chance for hope

_Showdown, part two…_

**27.**

_A chance for Hope _

Golbez was breathing heavily.  Morrison's last Dark Wave attack had hit him with full might and had forced him near to a corner of the room. His opponent seemed to possess an amazing amount of life force and strength that he had been able to use the Dark Wave attack over and over again. However, as Morrison now came closer, Golbez noticed that the other man was breathing fast and was showing the first signs of exhaustion. Still, the Dark Knight was far from quitting and had even enough strength left to mock the other: 

"You're a hard opponent... You just don't want to go down, do you?  Maybe steel will break your will - forgive me, I meant "your bones"…" he chuckled and attacked Golbez with his two-handed sword.

The black wizard backed away - what looked like a cowardly act was in truth another try to provoke Morrison into unleashing another Dark Wave attack.  However, this time, Morrison did not fall for it, and Golbez had not much room to run to anymore, as he had been trapped in a corner. 

"So finally you cannot run away anymore…" Morrison snarled. "That you try to run away from your true self does not mean that you can run away from me as well.  Let's end this!"

Golbez didn't answer him, but prepared for dodging the attack with his own sword, but froze, as he heard a loud explosion in the room behind the door.  Only a second later, the wooden entrance was blown out of its hinges by a great explosion, magical sparks and dust filling the air.

"Cecil…" the eyes of the black wizard filled with worry and he turned his head, looking at the now open door, but was unable to see anything due to the dust. 

"You fool!" Morrison shouted.  He used this moment of carelessness from Golbez and raised the sword to bring it down upon the other's head.

_Whirr! _

Suddenly something metallic buzzed through the air and buried itself deeply into Morrison right hand - not even the Dark Knight could hold the sword raised high up with only one hand, and thus had to let it fall to the ground.  Swearing, his gaze went to the shuriken which was stuck within his hand. Like a wounded animal, he turned around, slowly, to search for the thrower. 

"Ha! Bet you didn't expect me!" Edge shouted. He was grinning, though his face was still pale and he had to get supported by Yang and Rydia.  Behind them, Kain and Rosa were entering the room.

"Golbez?" Rosa shouted, looking first at Morrison, then at him: "Are you all right?" Her voice sounded hoarse and anxious. 

She got no answer, as another magical explosion came from the direction of the great hall, shaking the room.

"Cecil…" Rosa's voice trembled and before anyone could stop her, she was already running towards the open doorway at the end of the room.

"Wait! You can't go alone!" Kain tried to go after her, but was thrown back by a well known dark force - Morrison's Dark Wave. 

"Now I can finally end what I've failed to do last time…" the Dark Knight panted as he stepped towards the long haired blond fighter who was lying on the ground, holding his wound. 

"Damn…" Kain hissed with a pain-distorted face, "This cursed attack..."

"It's no curse…" Golbez remarked calmly. "It's the best thing our "friend" could do!"  He smiled, and approached Morrison's from behind, monopolizing all his powers for a final spell… 

**~*~**

"You can never beat me!" Mallack smiled down upon Cecil. The whole body of the Paladin hurt - although he had been able to block several spells with wall, Mallack's magical resources seemed to be endless here, next to the black stone, while his own white magic powers weren't strengthened. 

"You're so weak!  Why did Dawn choose you?"  Mallack jeered at him. "Of what use are your Paladin powers or the crystal to you right now?"

_"I really have no chance against his magic... Maybe I can provoke him into a fight man to man…"_ Cecil reached for the crystal in his pocket and held it high up. 

"I don't need the crystal to fight anyone..." He glared at Mallack and threw the bright shard away with a swing of his wrist. "However, _you_ seem to need the magical powers of the Black stone to fight me… Maybe you were right and Dawn left you because you were weak, after all!" he mocked the other through clenched teeth, inertly regretting that he had to use such a lie. _"Dawn, forgive me…"_

Mallack's face went ashen with cold rage, his dark green eyes sparkling even more deadly. Then, a wild smile twisted his features.  "I'll show you who's weak and who's strong..." he boomed and took the axe into his right hand. "Raahhh!" 

Cecil jumped to his feet, and blocked Mallack's axe just in time with his sword _Legend, although the magic attacks had weakened him. _"I cannot give up now..."_ Drawing on his last reserves of strength and combining all the sword skill he had mastered during the years, he quickly pulled the sword back and dealt Mallack's upper body a powerful horizontal blow.  With a loud, screeching noise, the lower half of Mallack's black breastplate fell to the ground, finely severed by Cecil's weapon_.__

"Nice move, Paladin… But what will you do without a sword?" Mallack hissed as there was another sound of metal falling to the ground. As Cecil looked down at the blade in his hand, he saw to his horror that_Legend had broken in two and the remnants of the blade in his hand had lost their holy shine. _

"The armour was made with the help of the Black stone and was protected by its powers. Seems that it was too much even for your Lunarian sword…" Mallack smiled triumphantly.

_"Legend… It broke... It was supposed to be indestructible!"_ Cecil couldn't believe what had just happened and took a step back, the broken sword still in his hand.

"Starting to getafraid?  If you just hold still I might decide to quicken your death just a bit…" Mallack chuckled, though in his eyes there was only hate.

_"I'm defenseless now.  Mallack is still protected by the upper part of his armour and he still has his weapon and can use magic…"_ The Paladin realized the bitter truth. _"But still..."_

"I'll not die without a fight," he hissed.

"As you wish!" Mallack took another axe-swing at Cecil, which the other could only dodge barely by ducking. The next attack he could block with the remnants of his broken blade, but the following one hit him at the shoulder.  Mallack's blows did not lessen--each new one seemed even stronger than the first, and Cecil could do nothing but try to dodge and defend them as good as his strength would allow it. His opponent had meanwhile driven him towards a wall of the room and aimed his next attack for the Paladin's neck.  Cecil let himself fall to the floor and rolled off sideways, but as he was back on his knees, he realized that his move had been a mistake, as it left him completely defenseless. 

_"So this is the end.  Dawn and Jonas died for nothing... My promise to Rosa - it was an illusion…"_ Cecil thought gloomily, head hanging, hopelessness making his soul feel heavy.  He let go of the broken blade in his hand. _"There's only one thing left to do…"_

He felt Mallack stepping closer and raised his head, determined to look into the other's eye while receiving the final blow.

"Cecil!"

The Paladin's head swung sideways - Rosa was standing in the doorway of the hall. 

"Catch!" she shouted.  Something silver flew through the air and landed next to the Paladin. 

"For Dawn," Rosa whispered.

"Now you die!"  Mallack's voice thundered, not caring for Rosa's presence, and he brought the axe down on the kneeling Paladin before him.  Still looking at Rosa, Cecil quickly grabbed for the silver rapier at his side: 

"For Dawn," he repeated the words of his wife, then turned around and thrust…

"Wh...what…" Mallack's axe landed only some inches away from Cecil.  With big eyes, the leader of the Dark Paladins stared at the beautiful silvery blade which had buried itself from below through the remnants of his black breastplate and deep into his heart.  Still kneeling, Cecil pulled the weapon back with his last strength and Mallack slacked down to the floor, staring at the Paladin's hand and the blade in it, which was red with blood.

"This…this is Dawn's rapier... Silver...mixed with crystal dust... It was a present from me...bought it from a Mysidian merchant…" Mallack coughed, the colour slowly leaving his face.  Suddenly a look of utter despair and sorrow replaced the mad glimmer in his eyes and for the first time he looked vulnerable - and lonely. "She even gave you that, Paladin… Why did you have to get everything...and I nothing... Except death...through her hand..." he brought forth with his last breath and fell to the side.

"Is...is he dead?" Rosa whispered, but her question was drowned out by loud noises coming from the room Morrison and the others were in.

"I need to help Golbez!  You stay here, Rosa," Cecil jumped to his feet and stormed out of the room as fast as his wounded state would allow it. 

It was no small surprise for the Paladin to find out that all his friends had assembled in the room beyond, and what even more surprised him was that Morrison was lying on the ground, not moving.  Rosa, who had followed him despite his request, held a hand before her mouth in shock as she saw her father.

"Don't worry… He's only unconscious," Kain was slightly out of breath. "As he was about to cut my throat, Golbez caught him from behind with a "Nuke" spell. Rydia and Edge threw in their magic as well, and he was down rather fast..."

"Yes, he was weakened due to the hide-and-seek I have been playing with him…" Golbez grinned. "So, shouldn't you try using the crystal, Cecil?"

"Try using the crystal?" Edge repeated the words not without sarcasm. "Wasn't that your line before the fight of Zeromus as well, Golbez?  So what can the crystal do to help us, this time?" 

"It seems that it is able to break the power of Mallack's spell… It was the thing that broke his control over Golbez, as well…" Cecil explained while he searched for the crystal, only then remembering that he had thrown it away.

"The crystal shard is here," a soft voice said behind him. "I picked it up," Rosa was holding the shard in her open hand, regarding her husband with an earnest, but somehow also curious expression.

_"She probably wonders how we can ever fix the mess I've brought the two of us into…" _

"Thank you…" Cecil whispered and bowed his head - he was feeling too ashamed to look his wife in the eyes right now. "Let's hope that this works…" He knelt down, put the shard on Morrison's chest and laid the limp hand of the man over it, clasping it with his own two hands.  The Paladin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating only on the crystal to bring it to life. The shard started to glow stronger and Cecil could feel how it filled not only him, but also the body of Morrison with warmth, dragging away the black magic forces Mallack had instilled in the other.  The Paladin's eyes snapped open.

"And?" Rosa asked anxiously.

Morrison suddenly stirred slightly, his hand still clasped around the crystal. Then he opened his eyes, a blank look in them as he looked into Cecil's face. "I… I know you from somewhere… Are...are you a knight of Baron?" he asked hoarsely. 

"Yes… Yes, sir.  I'm from Baron…" Cecil replied, in this moment not caring for his title of King or anything else than the fact that the spell over Morrison seemed to have broken. Behind him, Rosa started to weep silently. 

"Father…" 

The grey haired man raised his head a bit, and his once dead eyes were suddenly full of concern, but also confusion. "That voice..."

"Father!  It's me!  Rosa!" Rosa knelt down next to her husband, and fell around Morrison's neck, only strengthening the confusion of the man by her words. 

"Father?" he asked weakly and his forehead creased. "My head hurts… I can't think straight…"  

"Maybe the Black Stone is still clouding his mind…" Cecil said softly, though he also feared that Morrison was still suffering under a possible amnesia he had had before Mallack manipulated him. Still, he didn't want to upset Rosa even more. He carefully loosened the crystal shard out of Morrison's hand. "I'll go destroy the stone."

He stood up, without protest from Rosa who was still weeping at her father's side, and returned once more to the room where he had fought Mallack. As he made his way to the dais in the hall, the Paladin's gaze fell on the black clothed figure that lay on the floor on his stomach; his head turned sideways; a small red puddle being visible on the tile next to his upper body.  For some reason, Cecil felt forced to step closer - just then he noticed that Mallack had gripped Dawn's rapier with his left hand.  Cecil remembered that he had let the sword fall as he had left the room - Mallack must have grabbed for it with his last breath.

The Paladin knelt down next to the man to get a better look of the other's face: Mallack's now dead eyes were wide open and there were traces of a transparent fluid on his face.

"Tears…"Cecil noticed quietly and a terrible sadness suddenly surged through him - sadness about the senselessness of all that had happened. 

_"Why, Nathaniel?  You could have had everything together with Dawn… But you wanted more than that and thus brought tragedy upon so many people.  And in the end, you lost everything… A lifetime of study, of hardship, but also of love… Just wasted for nothing… Have you recognized this in your last moment?" _

"So he is finally dead…" Kain said next to him and pulled him out of his brooding.  As Cecil turned around, he saw that all his friends, except for his wife, had followed him into the hall.

"Rosa's still with her father…" Rydia told him.

Cecil nodded and slowly stood up, facing the Black Stone on the golden pedestal at the end of the room. 

"Mallack is dead, so all there's left to do is to destroy the stone… Whatever effects that action will bring with it…"

"As we're already talking about effects…" Golbez's dark voice held his brother back. "I think that it was only another lie of him, but I just thought that you should know it, anyway: Mallack told me that I'm the reason why the moon has changed its orbit... He told me that the black stone and my powers are of the same origin and draw to each other somehow… Mallack created the portal which brought me here with the help of the stone.  I don't think that anything will happen to me if you destroy the stone, but--"

"It means that Mr. Destroyer won't be able to return to the moon so easily…" Kain grumbled.

"I would help, but I have no idea what exact kind of spell Mallack has used and without some amplifying power, it is probably impossible to teleport someone over such a great distance…" Rydia remarked.

"Maybe we shouldn't destroy the stone right away, but after we have found a way for Golbez to return to the moon," Edge proposed. "Though that means as well that we can't break the spell over Mallack's hypnotized victims…"

"If we can break the spell after all…" Kain prophesied doom.

While the friends were still talking about what to do, Cecil had approached the dais, a strong look of determination on his face.  No one had noticed him, except for…

"Cecil!" Golbez had followed him. "It seems that your friends, especially Kain, are worried that I might not be able to return to the moon if you destroy the crystal…" he said, smiling quizzically.

The Paladin faced him. "I thought that this was mainly _your_ worry…" he replied, nearly reproachful.

His brother raised an eyebrow. "Well, regardless of what your friends want or what I want, we need to decide if we shoulddestroy the Black Stone right now. And we do not know what the effects of its destruction will be… But when I look into your face, Cecil, I get the strong impression that you do not trouble yourself much with these questions. That's so unlike you…"

"And it is unlike _you_ to question my motivation in such a way, Golbez…" Cecil replied, very calmly. "You noticed yourself that this whole fight, until the very end, was no fight of "good" against "evil" as it was against Zeromus. With Mallack's death nothing is solved as it was back then… Even if the destruction of the Black Stone breaks the spell over our people, we can never forget that it was also our fault that things came this far… And a lot of things happened that cannot be undone…" He got very earnest. "But what I want...is at least a chance to make things better again, a chance to prevent that someone like Mallack will ever get control over others again…" His eyes darkened with grief and guilt and he cast his gaze to the ground. "A chance for me to get some peace of mind. And a chance for _her_ to rest quietly… The destruction of the stone might bring us this chance and that's why I will destroy it, regardless of the effects..." 

The Paladin faced his brother again: "And about you… I know that you want nothing more than to continueyour endless sleep - that's at least what you told me… However, I guess you will still have to bearus a bit longer.  In destroying the stone right now, I'm only doing what you always have told me to do: I'm putting the greater good over you, brother…"

With these words and leaving a nonplussed Golbez behind, Cecil turned around and climbed up the steps to the dais.

There was something about the Black Stone which was repulsive, its aura trying to drive Cecil back with a dark force, but the fact that he was not alone in his struggle in his mind, and the warm crystal in his hand, the Paladin was not afraid. He carefully brushed over the polished surface of the black stone with his fingertips and a dark wave shot through his body, but it was not too painful - something seemed to protect him. Closing his eyes he laid one hand flat on the black stone, ignoring the dark images the object sent into his mind and clasped the crystal tightly in his other hand. 

The shard started to shimmer strongly, bathing the whole dais in a faint light. The dark images in the Paladin's mind got stronger, pictures of unspoken evils, but also pictures of very familiar ones, pictures of Zeromus. Cecil suddenly did no longer know if these images were his own ones, or had to do with the stone, but before the somberness of the scenes overwhelmed him, the crystal seemed to vibrate in his hand and his mind was bathed in a glaring light - or was it some inner force in himself that calmed him? He didn't know…

"Cecil… The crystal--" a voice said behind him.  It was Rydia who had approached the dais together with the others. "It works! The Black Stone is getting smaller!"  As the Paladin opened his eyes, he saw that parts of the dark stone had already crumbled to dust... However, there were also sparkling particle lying on the ground: dust from the crystal, which had become very small as well...

"It seems that this crystal will not "survive" the destruction of the stone… That means "Goodbye Serpent Way" unless the Elder has a hidden crystal stock in his closet… " Edge frowned.

"Yes… Imagine what will happen if this shard is the last? All other crystals are on the moon!  Aren't we dependent on its powers?" Kain wondered.

"No.  We are not,"  Cecil said without hesitation, and closing his eyes in concentration again, combined his powers with the crystal once more. The light around the dais got stronger and stronger -- until he suddenly noticed that his once hand was touching air. As he opened his eyes, he saw that the Black Stone had completely crumbled to dust - his hand was empty, the sparkling dust covering his skin the only thing that was left of the crystal.

"It's done…" he said softly.

"Oh man!" Edge burst out. "We shouldn't have done that.  I should have taken the Black Stone with me... I could have gotten all the girls I want with that… Rydia--no wait... That was only a joke!  I only want you, you know that… No?  Don't hit me!  I'm injured!" 

While the friends behind him started to chatter and joke around, as if they wanted to forget the nightmares of the last days as soon as possible, Cecil was still facing the now empty dais. He knew that everything was far from being over, but that the destruction of the stone had been a start, at least. He then noticed that Golbez was standing next to him.

"You know, Cecil…" he said, his eyes directed on the empty dais as well, "I don't think that you have chosen the greater good over me by your action.  Maybe, for once, the greater good and my interests...were at least similar…"

It was then that the first _real_ smile in a long whilecrept over Cecil's face. 

_"That's right… It's definitely a start…"_

_---------------------------------------------_

_Author's notes: Hmmm.. I'm not sure how many people are still reading this (besides one or two reviewers) but maybe someone is still interested: Just one chapter and an epilogue more to go…_


	29. Chapter 28: Covering the ground

_So, now to the "grande finale" (as one nice reviewer put it :), though it's not grande, but… quiet…_

**28.**

_Covering the ground_

Having destroyed the stone, Cecil's next worry was about Rosa, who they had left behind with her father. He and the rest of the group quickly hurried back into the anteroom. By now, Rosa's father had stood up and was listening intently to what his daughter told him, his expression confused, but also gentle. As the Queen of Baron noticed the others, she stopped and looked at Cecil enquiringly, only to direct her gaze to Kain a second later. 

"Have you destroyed the stone?" she asked the Dragoon, ignoring her husband completely.

"What? Yes, Cecil has…" Kain frowned and turned to his friend: 

"Cecil, what the hell did you say to her? We're all not very happy about the way you tricked us and went off alone, but obviously you've really spoiled your chances with Rosa…" he whispered.

The Paladin sighed. "I know - I made a terrible mistake and I've got no idea how I can make up for it… As Rosa gave me the crystal, I thought that she wasn't that mad, but it seems that in the meanwhile, she has changed her mind..."

He decided, though, that he could at least address Morrison: "How are you feeling, Sir?" 

"Well, I have to admit that I don't really understand much of what's going on here, but due to the patience of my dear daughter, I've already regained a lot of lost memories …" the elderly man told him friendly - it was hard to believe for Cecil that this well behaved man had tried to kill all of them for several times. 

"So it is true that you were suffering under amnesia?" The Paladin inquired further.

Morrison nodded. "It seems to me that way… I woke up one day in the hut of some fisherman on an island I did not know - and I did not really know much about myself, as well… But the memory really leaves me when it comes to the point from which this man named Mallack talked to me," he said seriously, "It seems that I said and did quite some terrible things under his control… Even if it does not make up for things, I'd like to apologize for this and to thank you for bringing me back to my senses…" He bowed before Cecil:

"My daughter already told me that you're not only her husband, but have also become the current King of Baron. My liege…" 

Mallack's bitter words of people blindly following their King came into Cecil's mind, _"I don't want that people follow me that way - but haven't I expected that they just blindly trust me in the case of Golbez?"_

He held up a hand, motioning Morrison to get up. "There's no need to be so formal, Sir… When we're back home, you can decide if you want to enter Baron's army again, but no matter what you decide to do, I would be very glad if you would call me just 'Cecil'. After all, we're family…" he said.

"Very well, Cecil.  So please don't call me Sir, as well…" Morrison smiled. "I think we will get along fine… Margaret must be very happy about the man her daughter has chosen, as well."

Behind Cecil, Kain started to laugh and was soon followedby the others. As Cecil looked at Rosa, he saw that she too was grinning, although she avoided his gaze stubbornly.

"Why are they laughing?" Morrison wondered.

The young King of Baron cleared his throat. "They're only happy that you have regained your memory concerning your family… And now we should finally leave this place - Cid is waiting for us!" he quickly changed the subject. He also really wanted to leave the mines as soon as possible - they were a dark place, in which he had made bitter decisions and experiences. 

***

The walk outside took longer than expected as several of the friends were wounded and tired, but finally they reached the mouth of the mine, cold autumn air greeting them. The sky was grey and cloudy, but then again, anything was better than the dark, oppressive tunnels they had just left.

Cid, who had been guarding the airship all the time, was visibly happy to see that everyone was alive and greeted Morrison friendly - he still remembered Rosa's father well. In fact, Morrison's polite and honourful behaviour made it easy for most of Cecil's friends to forget the pains he had caused them -- with the exception of Kain, who still regarded the other man suspiciously and tried to stay clear of him.

Morrison left his daughter alone for a while and went over towards Cecil, who was standing at the railing together with Edge and Rydia, waiting for the airship to take off. "I'm the one who wounded Kain that badly, right?" he asked Cecil, regret in his voice, "I cannot believe that I did that - I knew you and him since you were little kids… Can he ever forgive me?"

"Kain has gone through a lot lately," the Paladin calmed him, "it might just take a while until he fully trusts you."

"And I deserve nothing less…" The elderly man replied, "If I had been stronger I would not have fallen for Mallack's tricks…" He bowed his head. "Right now, I'm just happy that soonI will have my family back, but with each passing second my memory clears and I'm frightened of what I might remember…"

"We all will get hunted by the memories of this journey…" Yang said quietly next to them, "Mallack tricked us all and many things have been done or said that hurt. We can only hope that we will find the strength to make up for them…" 

"Yes, that's the right cue!" Edge suddenly burst out. "Golbez!" He shouted across the deck, "About what your spell did to me: You will pay for--"

"I know…" The long haired wizard interrupted him with his dark voice and went over to the ninja, his expression earnest and devoid of sarcasm, "During the whole journey, I have not done much to make you trust me and even in the future this will probably not change much. However, I never wanted to endanger any of you… and…" For once, there seemed to be real regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry… And of course I'm willing to pay for the things I did - just go ahead with whatever you want to do to me…"

Edge limped a bit closer to the black wizard to take a better look at the other's face to see if he was joking - this was not the Golbez he knew. Then, he said as seriously as he could:

"I'm very happy that you're willing to pay!" Edge pointed towards the burnt rag at his legs and a broad grin spread over his face. "How about if we start with the trousers?"

For several moments, Golbez just stared at the roguish, blue haired young man before him, then he slowly raised an eyebrow and a sigh escaped his lips. It was difficult to tell if it sounded desperateor relieved…

"_You_," Golbez looked at Edge, "I nearly fried into a pile of dust and _him_…" he glanced at Cecil, "I nearly strangled, but both of you don't really seem to care…" He shook his head, "I'd like to say that you're hopeless cases, but the plain truth is that your behaviour is simply beyond me. One could come to think that such things as hope and trust exist after all, as you always cling so dearly to them… " Still shaking his head in incomprehension, he turned his back to them and slowly went to another part the deck.

"I really wonder what's the matter with Golbez… He seems…changed…" Rydia wondered. 

"I don't know if I like him better, though…" Kain murmured. "You're looking worried, too, Cecil…"

His friend nodded.  "Yes, but for once not about him.  I'd like to return to Baron right away, but first, we will have to take a last risk: We need to check Mysidia, to see if the destruction of the black stone has had any effect on the people… If the burning anger of the wizards has subsided, we can be quite sure that the spell over the other followers of Mallack has been broken, as well."

~*~

They arrived at Mysidia only some hours later, this time though, landing near the gates of town. Cid and Morrison stayed on the ship - even if the townspeople were no longer under Mallack's control, Cecil feared that the appearance of the former General of the Dark Paladins might cause a commotion.

_"My appearance will stir up trouble, enough…"_

As the friends approached the town once more, everyone became very silent - not only were they anxious if the destruction of the black stone had any effect, but too many bitter memories were connected with their last visit. As they had arrived at the town gates, they were stopped by two Mysidian wizards:

"We're sorry, but we can't let you through.  The town is closed to visitors due to...inner affairs…" one said.

"Inner affairs?" Yang frowned. 

Just then, the guards noticed the identity of the group before them. "Wait, you're the group around King Cecil!" One man exclaimed agitated.  The Paladin blanched instantly - was the whole nightmare he had been able to escape once starting again?  To his surprise, the guards suddenly bowed slightly before him: "The Elder was waiting for your arrival! Please come on through!" 

"The Elder?" Cecil wondered, "So does that mean that--"

"Paladin Cecil! And his friends! You are all alive!" A familiar voice greeted them: It was the Elder who was approaching the town gate with opened arms. "Have you destroyed the Black Stone?" 

Cecil nodded. "Yes… And Mallack is dead.  We were not sure if the spell would break his hold over the people, though… It's a first relief to see that you're alive… Are Palom and Porom--"

"They are well…" the Elder reassured him, "It was like I told you - the hate of my people was only directed on you, and they had no interest in hurting me or the people around me. They locked us into the crystal room, though, so that "we might have time to think and come to our senses" as they called it. We were already brooding about how we could escape, as suddenly the door was unlocked again: It was one of the wizards who had arrested us before and who now was very surprised to find us… It was then, that we slowly realized that the spell over our people was breaking. However, most of them all are still confused and don't know what they have been doing during the last few days…" His expression became worried, "I don't have to tell you that it will be a lot of work to come to terms with what has happened…"

"Yes, and a lot of things are not changeable any more… "Although the Paladin felt relieved that the spell over the people had broken, another question was nagging him. "Elder, you have not by any chance found a body near the coast?" he asked, fearing and craving for the answer at the same time.

"No… I'm sorry…" The old man told him. "The current along the coast is very strong.  It usually drags everything into the open sea…"

A stifling silence laid over the group - Dawn was indeed forever lost to them...

_"But even if her body is lost, my guilt will stay…"_

"Why did it just have to end like this?  It makes everything we have accomplished so bitter…" the Paladin murmured. "And then there's Jonas'…"

"What about me?"  A young voice asked suddenly.  Cecil raised his head slowly; what he beheld, he could not believe.

"J…Jonas?" he stammered, regarding the boy before him with big eyes. "You're…alive?"

"Is that a problem for you?" the boy riled, but then started to grin. "Well, to tell the truth I thought as well that I would kick the bucket… As all this mad people stormed towards me, I decided to try using a Nuke spell to stop them… I don't know what had gotten into me in that minute; casting this spell in that narrow passage would have meant the death for everyone in it!  So it was for once a good thing that it failed--"

"But I saw the explosion!" Cecil interrupted him.

Jonas rolled with his eyes. "I was just about to tell that, stupid!  It failed not completely but created some kind of explosion in midair.  Some peeps got hit by falling parts of the wall and it knocked everyone out for a while, but no one got seriously hurt… By some kind of miracle, the pressure of the explosion was so great that it hurled everyone into safety…" He ended his explanation.

"This--this is really unbelievable…" Cecil smiled. "I'm so glad that you're well!  I need to thank you--"

"Yes, know, I know, Paladin…" Jonas was rather offhanded as always. "I'll be sure to remember your promise now and then.  And now go--shouldn't you check if your own Kingdom still stands?  Not--"

"Not that_ I _would care..." Cecil finished the boy's sentence for him.

"Exactly," The young boy grinned and Cecil noticed once again that something had changed in the other's features since they had met for the first time: although Jonas was still temperamental and would never act really friendly towards him, his gaze contained no longer the fiery hate that had driven him before. The Paladin wished that Dawn could have seen the change in the boy…

Taking up Jonas' suggestion, the group around Cecil said goodbye to the Elder and took the path back to the airship. 

Accidentally, Cecil was walking next to Rosa - since they had left the mines, she had not spoken one word to him. 

_"Since Kain has returned to Baron and the whole mess started on __Mt.__Ordeals__, we have quarreled quite often…But this time, I'm really worried.  My words must have hurt her very much and I can understand why…" _he thought, while watching her shyly out of the corner of his eyes.

"Do you see?  I was right, after all…" Rosa casually remarked, suddenly.

"What?" Cecil looked at her, surprised.

"You're still with me at my side, once again…" his wife replied, without looking at him.  "Although this time you nearly made me believe that everything was lost. No, maybe for a moment I _did _believe it… As you went away, and I knew that I might loose everything that's dear to me, something inside of me was about to break.  I… I just couldn't accept that it had to end like this, and so, I did what I've done so often: I ran after you… Though this time, I informed the others first…"

"And this time, it was good that you ran after me…" Cecil admitted, though it was hard for him to accept, "If you hadn't arrived at the right time, Mallack would have--"

"I know…" Rosa bit her lip, and suddenly looked at him very seriously, "still, my running after you does not mean that I've forgotten what you said to me in the mines… That's why--"

"You're still angry with me and you really have all right to do so…" Cecil sighed, wondering why they hadn't yelled at each other until now; maybe they both were just too exhausted for that. "So what now?" He asked carefully, "the most horrible thing is that I don't know if we can fix what has happened… My behaviour was so stupid…"

"Yes, that it was…" Rosa agreed a bit more sharply, her gaze directed on the path before them.

Her husband frowned. "I don't really know why I always feel obligated to solve certain things alone… And this time, my decision even turned out to be wrong…" 

"How good of you to notice…" his wife remarked, not without sarcasm, which was a seldom shown trait of her. "So, will you ever again take such suicidal actions?"

There was no sense in pretending.  "You know me, Rosa: Yes, probably I'll do such a thing again if it comes to it. Though I hope that it doesn't…" Cecil admitted quietly.  He was certain that with this statement, he had destroyed the last traces of understanding and sympathy for him and that at the latest now, his wife would become really furious.

However, Rosa stayed calm. "Alright.  I just wanted to know…" 

Surprised, Cecil's gaze shottowards her and he anxiously waited for her to continue. "That means…?"

"That means that next time something like that in the mines happens, I will not make such a stupid scene as I did this time: I'll just let you go!" Suddenly she smiled mischievously, "and then I'll just run after you again and believe me, you will not be able to do anything against it…"

_"We will see about that…"_ was Cecil's first thought, but he knew better than to starta quarrel right now:

"Rosa… Does that mean that you can forgive me?"

His wife suddenly came to a halt. "Maybe…" For a moment it seemed as if she wanted to embrace her husband and kiss him, but something seemed to hold her back. "You know, I'm still feeling a bit angry, so I might consider telling my mother about your irresponsible behaviour…" she teased.

"Then I don't know why you have helped your husband in the mines, Rosa…" Kain had walked up to them. "Death by Mallack's hands would surely have been better than what Margaret will do to him!"

"Yeah, mock me as much you will, Kain…" Cecil retorted. "After all, I'm not the only one who has to fix things, aren't I right?"

Kain shot him a half offended, half amused look. "You know, all this time you spent with your brusque brother really has rubbed off on you - you're getting too direct for my taste… Still, I'll think about your words when we're back in Baron."

"Yes…" Cecil nodded, "we all will have to think about quite a lot of things when we're back." As he felt Rosa's fingers intertwining with his, he knew that he wouldn't have to do it alone, at least…

~*~

As night was falling in, they finally arrived at Baron. The streets of the town were nearly completely empty and allowed Cecil and his friends to hurry rather unnoticed to the castle. 

"Your Highness!" the guards at the drawbridge greeted them. "We were already worried about your absence…"

Cecil noticed to his relief that no one of them asked him about Golbez's escape.  Still, his brother was a problem. "Master Golbez is with me, as well… Is he allowed to enter?" The question sounded strange even to him, but he had to make sure that his brother was safe.

The guards looked at him, not able to hide their confusion. "Your Highness? You're asking strange things… It is your castle--"

"I know. What I mean is--" Cecil did not know how to put it. "You know that the Golbez I'm talking about is the same that took control over Baron during the Crystal Wars?" he asked unusually bluntly.

The guards exchanged uneasy glances. "We've already suspected that…" one guard said, but suddenly saluted: "But we do trust your judgment, your Highness… After all, you were a Dark Knight as well and we all know how you changed."

In the shadows behind Cecil, Golbez began to chuckle quietly, "And you think you can apply this simple observation ontome?"

"Golbez!" Cecil pleaded - obviously his brother had not changed that much, after all. He turned his attention back to the guards. "I thank you for your trust, but I think that I acted a bit too secretive concerning my brother. It may come a bit late, but you don't have to keep your suspects a secret any longer. However, I would ask you to spread as well that if any of Baron's citizens have worries regarding my decision to let Golbez stay in Baron,** they should bring their worries forth, so that I might ease their fears…"**

The guards were slightly taken aback by the request of their King, which came totally unexpected and lay not really in their normal line of work, but nodded enthusiastically, nonetheless.

"Now that this is clarified, you might want to know if anything of consequence has happened during your absence," the older guard said.

Cecil could not help but dislike the words "you might want to know". It seemed to be the fate of Royalty that others were always telling them what to be interested in. "_Though maybe it is better this way than the other…"_ He thought of the ideas Mallack had instilled in the heads of his closest followers. 

"I think that your report can wait until later.  Everything looks calm to me," he told the guards, knowing that any report of them was no real proof for the state of his Kingdom anyway, but that he had spoken with its inhabitants himself.

"Well - it is true that nothing really has happened. Except that the castle gates still need some repair due to the storm and then there was this strange story with the open cell door in the dungeon and the unconscious soldier before it… And he swore that he wasn't drunk," one of the watchmen told him.

"What?  Oh, that's indeed mysterious.  I might take a look in these matters later…" Cecil said and quickly entered the castle before more words about this matter could be lost.

"A storm and a cell door which opened by magic?  It seems as if the people here have forgotten everything which has happened, as well…" Kain noticed quietly.

"For the moment… But we cannot be sure if the memory doesn't come back like it did with Morrison…" Cecil said. "A lot of explaining might wait for us…"

"And I see that you have already started with it a moment ago.  So do you really think that you can get the people to trust me so easily?" Golbez asked his brother with a raised eyebrow, as they went up the stairs to the castle.

Cecil shrugged. "I don't know, but like I said before: it's a start…"

***

Some castle servants greeted them as they entered the inner halls and some of the older ones started to whisper as they beheld the figure of Morrison - obviously some still seemed to remember the father of their current Queen.  It did not take long until the group bumped into Margaret, who was pacing up and down a castle hallway, nervously.

"Rosa!  You're back!  Are you well?" the elderly woman started to chatter at once, but stopped in mid-sentence, as her eye suddenly fell on Morrison.  She instantly paled, raising slowly a hand to her mouth in shock, and it took several moments before she finally approached him, however, warily. 

"You…" 

Morrison obviously was not feeling better than she and at first only stared at her; the amount of emotions and thoughts surging up in him made it difficult to speak for the man: "Margaret… I'm back…" was the only thinghe could bring forth, and he carefully stepped towards her, taking her into his arms.

"It's…it's really you…" His wife whispered, raising her head to watch his face with unbelieving, tear filled eyes.

"Yes… " Morrison smiled. "It…it has been over ten years, but your eyes--they are still as beautiful as before... As you are…" 

"Beautiful?  Well, that's what I call real love…" Edge suddenly chuckled quietly.  Until now, the friends had watched the couple silently and it was clear that especially Rosa had problems holding back tears of joy.

Like Edge, Kain was less moved in this case: "Maybe now that her husband is back, she will become nicer, Cecil…" he whispered rather spitefully towards his friend.  The whole situation was getting too emotional for his taste - or maybe it just brought up memories of Diane.

Just now, Margaret had gotten a better hold on herself and she swallowed some last tears. "Dear… I was so worried!" She suddenly gave the man before her a slight push.  "I nearly died out of concern for you!  Only because you had to follow some stupid orders!  Don't ever leave like that again, do you hear me?" Her voice was sharp all of a sudden. "You idiot!"

Morrison only smiled lovingly at her outburst and embraced her once more: "No, I'll never leave Rosa and you alone again… And it's good to see that you haven't lost your wonderful temper…"

"Wonderful temper?" Kain whispered towards his friend: Cecil was staring at the embraced couple before them, slightly frowning.

"Talk about getting softer…" the Paladin murmured, though for the first time, he had the feeling that at least the part concerning Morrison was a real victory - whereas their other 'achievements' somehow left a strange aftertaste. He remembered of how everything had begun, of how all the friends had celebrated in the big dance hall of Baron the first year anniversary of Zeromus defeat.  Just a day later monsters had attacked the Kingdom for the first time and the trouble had begun.  

_"But we have won… Why don't we feel like celebrating now?" _and although he knew the answer, it was bitter to accept.

"Look…" Rydia suddenly exclaimed. "It's snowing!" For some reason, it sounded sad. Concerned, Cecil went over to the window the girl was now standing at, nearly glad that he could leave the others and his dim thoughts for a while.

Indeed, outside, the first small flakes of the year were falling from the black heavens. 

"Soon, the ground will be covered with snow and the winter will make it difficult to work on the broken entrance to the Underworld…" Rydia said softly, and looked quite lost all of a sudden.

"That's right, but spring will come again, as well… Besides King Giott might have already started working on opening the passage," Cecil told her, squeezing her hand. "Do...do you regret that you didn't stay in the Underworld as you had the chance to in the tower of Bab-Il?"

The caller reflected for a moment. "I don't really know… Since my village was destroyed, I was trying to find a place I belong to - this was everything I wanted. However, so far I haven't succeeded in it, although I have seen a lot of places by now…" 

"I see…" Rydia's words depressed Cecil - he had hoped that the caller was feeling home in Baron: After all, nor he, neither the others and especially Edge would like to see her leave.

"I have found people, though, whom I trust and like to be with…" A little smile appeared on Rydia's face, but it lessened as she continued: "So I wonder why I'm still not content. On theflight back from the Silveran mine I thought about it and finally I came to the conclusion that maybe not the places I visited were at fault, but that the fault lays in me. Because in the end, it is really all about the people you're with and not the place.  It was like that with Dawn, I think. Although she had no home to return to and a lot of her happiness was only pretend, you could it see it in her eyes that, at least, she was truly happy when she was together with you or Rosa…"

"You think so?" Cecil asked glumly, the mental image of Dawn's death still strong before his eyes. 

_"Her last smile...so sad... But still, it was a smile…"_

"Yes. And I could be happy as well with everyone by my side… But something is just missing in me, there's some kind of hollow space and I don't know with what to fill it up…" Rydia's voice got suddenly very quiet.

"Maybe you need some kind of occupation… How about returning with Edge to Eblan?" Cecil suggested, grateful for the change of subject. "Your mission could be to sort out things a bit in his castle.  Also, during the last weeks, his character seems to have improved a lot…"

Rydia sighed softly. "I… I know, he's no longer always hiding behind a funny façade. And maybe I have changed as well, for as now I can see him in a different light.  However, my feelings have not changed.  I like him, I like him a whole lot, but… I don't think that I love him… I believe that I could feel for no one that way, yet - neither for Edge, nor for another man." 

"Maybe you just need a bit time… Time to grow up fully…" Cecil watched her friendly, pushing a strand of green hair behind her ear.

"I _am_ grown up!" Rydia suddenly got agitated and stomped with her foot on the floor.  She blushed slightly as she noticed that Cecil was grinning. "Well, okay, maybe not totally - you can't expect me to catch up with ten years lost in one year…" Her big green eyes got very pensive all of a sudden. "And I wouldn't want it, as well - since my mother died, I always felt forced to grow up very fast.  Even now.  So, maybe I'd just like a break from it…"

"Well, as you can't return to the Underworld too soon, you will have quite some time to take that break.  And you should also take your time with deciding where you want to spend it," Cecil said gently and laid an arm around her slim shoulders.

"Uh, hum…" Rydia nodded and was already looking a bit happier. For a moment, she and Cecil just watched the falling snow outside in silence - and maybe in the contentment of the nearly impossible friendship that had formed between them and still lasted against all odds.  

"I wonder how it would be if the snow could cover our memories just like it covers the ground.  Maybe we would not get hunted by all the sad things that have happened…" the Paladin suddenly wondered.

Rydia chewed her lip in reflection. "Hmm… But wouldn't all the good memories be lost then, as well?  And they are sometimes the only things that stay with us…"

_"She's right… Still, I wish we all could forget the past just for a little while, so that we might find some peace.  Even though we've destroyed Mallack's plan and have survived, the victory tastes so bitter… But still, life must go on…" _

Another one of his friends seemed to have had similar thoughts.

"Hey, you bores!" Edge shouted suddenly. "If we don't feel like drinking to celebrate, we could at least drink to forget about our worries for a while…" he proposed, and his suggestion was a very serious one. Everyone looked at Cecil, uncertain, but also expectant.

It was in then that Cecil decided that, now and then, it would hurt no one if he just did what he felt like doing without thinking too much about it. Thus, although his role as King and Paladin might have demanded for a different answer, he proclaimed loudly: 

"Edge is right, today we should let our problems rest - let us celebrate the reunion of Rosa's parents and that we are still alive! And now let's find out what the wine cellar has in store for us - or better what Edge has left us!  All drinks are on the castle!"

Especially Margaret was very surprised to hear such words from her son-in-law.  However, she could find no reason to contradict him…


	30. Epilogue: The horizon beyond

_So, now to the end… Remember: This is your last chance to review! Please? ;) And  don't miss the author's notes! You might be in them! ;)_

**Epilogue**

_The horizon beyond_

On a cold but sunny winter morning, Golbez left.  He had packed his few things in secret and as he was not much for tearful goodbyes, he had left the castle, unnoticed by anyone. Or so he thought - he had already crossed the courtyard and was about to step through the castle gates, as a voice held him back:

"Golbez!"

The dark haired man froze and for a moment it seemed as if he was not sure what to do. Then, very slowly, he turned around to face his brother. 

"Cecil… You should better stay in the castle.  It is cold," he said, expressionless.

Cecil shook his head. "I don't care. I woke up early and accidentally spotted you out of a window. So you're leaving after all…" he said, and although he tried to sound calm, his voice could not hide the disappointment andsorrow he felt.

Golbez's expression became softer and he took a step towards the other. "Of course I'm leaving, I've already waited long enough.… I don't belong here - I told you so from the beginning, Cecil."

"But you cannot return to the moon so easily!" His brother retorted nearly angrily. "Besides where do you think you belong?"

Golbez raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, myself.  There are many things I don't know.  That's why I'm going: I want answers. About me, about why I'm here."

"But Mallack--"

"Mallack said that the black stone has brought the moon here, but I don't think that's the whole truth. I think he didn't know himself why the moon came back. Look," the dark-haired wizard pointed to the faint silhouette in the clear, blue morning sky, "it's still there. Maybe I can find a way to return to it - maybe not. It's not really important. I've thought a lot about my motives for leaving Baron and traveling the lands and I've come to the conclusion that I've got mainly one desire…"

"And that would be?" his brother asked, curiosity in his voice.

Golbez's eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath. "I… I want to search for our father.  I want to know why he abandoned us, _if_ he abandoned us..."

"What?" Cecil was puzzled. "Is it because Mallack told you that father knew that you would fall victim to the dark side? You cannot possibly believe this!" He shook his head, "I can understand that you want answers to certain things, but will these make life better for you? Will they help you to find your place? A friend once told me that it's not the place that is important, but the people you're with…" 

For a moment Golbez was silent, and it was visible that a fight was raging within him - then, the words just came gushing out of his mouth: "But that's why I'm going!  I want to know why I'm this way…" he pointed to his chest and his eyes filled with grief. "Why my heart is so cold, why my feelings are so twisted that I feel… That I feel forced to leave the people I care for!" 

He violently turned his head away, so that Cecil might not see the sadness in his eyes.

"There.  You know now why I wanted to leave unnoticed…" he chuckled bitterly. "Stupid emotions..."

"Golbez…" Cecil was so surprised and moved that the words nearly failed him, "If…if you feel this way, why can't we find out about the way you are together?"

"No.  I want to do this alone and I've already caused you enough worries.  I think your Kingdom and your friends need you more than I do…"

"I won't deny that things are still in an uproar…" Cecil had to admit - indeed a lot had to be done.  During the last weeks, he had his hands fullwith voyages to Damcyan and Tororia to check the state of things there. Although Edward was well, and had regained the sympathy of his people, he felt slightly overstrained with certain political actions and had asked Cecil and Yang for help, as well as Edge. The ninja had finally brought it over him to take on the responsibilities as a ruler and was still occupied with Eblan's reconstruction. This new eagerness had pleasantly surprised everyone, although Cecil could not help but wonder if Edge wasn't just trying to impress Rydia again. The young caller was still staying in Baron - Cecil had offered her to help her with her magical studies.  Maybe she even wanted to teach some of it to others, but she had not yet said anything about it.  In fact, the Paladin was not sure if she would stay in Baron for long, but he and Rosa were glad to have her with them for now. Especially, since Kain had left Baron only one week after their return. The ex-dragoon had explained that he needed some time alone to think and then wanted to visit Diane. Cecil had not heard anything of his friend since then and he could only hope that this had a pleasant background.

Cecil had not too much time to worry about such things, though. Too many diplomatic bonds had to get renewed, and this time, the young King of Baron wanted to make sure that the people were content with the decisions their rulers made - a high goal which was not easy to achieve. He had had to face this sad truth already in Golbez's case - even as most of the people in Baron knew by now about the real identity of the black haired man, Cecil often had the feeling that they only tolerated him, but still did not trust him and would rather welcome his departure.  And he knew that he probably could not change one or the other.

"Very well, then. Though I wish that you'd stay, you're of course free to do what you want... " he told his brother, though it was clear that what he had said wasn't at all to the Paladin's liking. 

"It's not what I want, Cecil, but what I _must_… There's a lot I must know, not only about me and our father, but also about--" Golbez suddenly frowned, "I'm talking too much.  I have to go now…"

Cecil's heart became heavy. "So this is the second goodbye… Will this be the last one?"

His brother shrugged.  "Yes, I suppose so…"

"I see…" Cecil cast his eyes to the ground, a feeling of grief and emptiness overwhelming him.  Thus, he failed to notice the amused look in Golbez's eyes.

"Cecil, all I was saying is that if I decide to return one day, I won't be leaving again. So, see you, little brother..." 

"You--" Cecil looked up, surprised, but his brother had already passed through the castle gate and was following the path to the woods.

"Yeah, see you… I hope you find what you are searching for…" he murmured, unintentionally smiling as he watched the lone black figure amidst the pure white snow.  Then, unlike his normal habits, he raised a faireyebrow:

"So there you go big brother.  Always trying to solve things alone and making everything worse with it… Idiot…" 

"Are you talking to yourself?" a soft, female voice suddenly laughed behind him.

"Very funny, darling," Cecil laid an arm around Rosa's shoulder. "Golbez has left us…"

His wife was not too surprised about this fact, though it made her still feel…just sad.  "We both knew that this would happen.  He's got a lot to catch up with in life.  I wonder where he's going…"

Her husband frowned, drawing her more tightly in his embrace to lessen the feel of the chilling winter air--and the chill which surged up in his being, now that his brother had once more left them. 

"I wonder, myself, where his travels will lead him…" 

Just then, the silhouette of black had disappeared in the white woods outside the castle. Cecil thought about what Golbez had told him; or better, about what he had _not_ told him, and suddenly he knew very well where the other would go to.

And someday, Cecil too would voyage to the coast near Mysidia once again.  He would look up to the silent moon over him and watch the thundering sea beneath him, waiting. 

Waiting and hoping, against all reason, to hear a clear, bright laughter in the wind. 

**The End of Three Sides of the Moon.******

**Author's notes**

"_The End"… Yes, after three years the "Three Sides of the Moon trilogy" has finally come to an end. As I write these lines, I feel a bit sad about it, but at the same time I feel happy that the story has come that far. _

Some of you might know that I'm from Europe and that English is not my native language, so naturally, the writing of this story was a great challenge, but also a great experience. I've always been a great fan of FF 2/4, but in Europe, not many people know of this game. So I was more than happy to discover one day FF4 websites and FF4 stories in the internet. It was then, that I decided to write down my own ideas, though I can assure you that not everything went like I had imagined it… I'm no poetic writer (though I adore people with a poetic gift very much), but I just like to tell stories, stories about people. The basic idea for TSotM was to show different emotions and expressions (trust, betrayal and hope) in their various forms, but soon, the plot and the relationships within the story became much more complex. Also, I had to discover that the characters in my story had an "own flow", like each living being has an own mind and I could do nothing, but to get a raft and to take a ride… 

And the ride is not over, yet.

Maybe I should now write something like: _"If enough people tell me that they want a sequel, I will write one," _but I fear that I will write the sequel anyway – no matter if you want it or not… ;) The ending of the story left many things open, and since Golbez has become one of my personal favourite characters, I'd like to accompany him on his way a bit more. "The colour of the soul" (temporary title), kinda a TSotM sequel dealing with Golbez (and Edward – surprise, surprise…;) is already in the making, as well as a short FF4 prequel which deals with the love triangle between Cecil, Rosa and Kain. Okay, now I'm getting tired of my own ramblings, but if you ever have any questions (and even if not) feel free to email or AIM me! :)

And now to the thanks section:

This story is dedicated to all creative people. May you always be inspired!

Although they will never read this, I want to thank Suzanne Vega, Jethro Tull and A-Ha for the musical background during writing… ;)

I'd like to thank the webmasters who allowed me to put my story on their sites, namely Aywren (who was the first to give me a chance :), Andromeda, Doc and SDarkwind. 

Another "Thank you!" goes to all reviewers and to the people who emailed me about the story. You all were the force that kept me going! I refrain from listing all names here, as I fear that I might forget someone. However I'd especially like to thank my few "old" reviewers, who did not even seem to mind the long time it took me to write part three, and the new reviewers who did not get tired to review _Hope_ on a regular basis. ^_^

There are also some very special persons I owe something to, so the biggest thanks go to:

SDarkwind for beta-reading parts of _Trust _and _Betrayal;_

Biggy, for listening to my ideas (and to the badly translated version of my story) and for not getting tired of supporting me;

My friend Nina (Rinoa) for listening to my ramblings and encouraging me (with very harsh words, though…;) to continue writing when I wanted to give up after part two;

And last, but surely not least, thanks go to my friend Doc for so many things: For beta-reading _Hope_, helping me with the other two parts, listening to my complaints, never getting impatient with my questions and for inspiring me with her own writing. Thank you. :)

Until we all meet again!

~Titania, August 2003


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